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Tourist Board scores for Lanka at Champions Trophy

by Tharika Goonathilake

The Sri Lanka Tourist Board has been able to secure free air time worth over a million dollars for special destination promotional spots during the ICC Champions Trophy cricket telecast.

The September 12-29 tournament featuring 12 countries will be beamed live to more than 65 countries. One of the biggest international sports events in the world, it is second only to the ICC World Cup in terms of importance and television viewership. Over one billion people are believed to be glued to their TV sets during this year's tournament, the third in the series after Bangladesh (1998) and Nairobi (2000).

"We are aiming to present Sri Lanka at its best with catchy spots on Sri Lanka's attractions to gain maximum consumer impact," Sri Lanka Tourist Board Director Marketing Dileep Mudadeniya told the `Daily News' yesterday.

According to him, Sony TV and the World Sports Group have given these free advertising spots during actual play time following an appeal by the Tourism Ministry and Tourist Board.

As part of this promotional strategy, the cricket commentators too will be briefed on Sri Lanka's many facets and given a special fact sheet on the country.

A competition offering five all inclusive air tickets to viewers courtesy Sri Lankan Airlines, a media familiarisation tour for the foreign press to get "their endorsement for the country as a safe and attractive travel destination", is also on the cards.

"This cricket series provides an ideal opportunity to promote Sri Lanka without the high promotional cost that would be normally incurred to gain this kind of publicity. The Tourist Board has come out with a dynamic campaign to capitalise on this situation," Mudadeniya said.

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