Siddahalepa German demonstration moots world demand

Hiran SENEWIRATNE in Berlin

Visitors to the SriLankan airline stand.

The Sri Lankan contingent led by Deputy Minister of Tourism Faiser Mustapha, Chairman Sri Lanka Tourism, Renton De Alwis, Chairman Conventions Bureau, Prema Cooray and German officials at a discussion.

Lankan company for a Ayurveda therapy demonstration before the German Wellness Hall in the main ITB hall.

This is the first time in the history of ITB, a Sri Lankan company has been invited for a demonstration of this nature, Managing Director Hettigoda Group Asoka Hettigoda told the Daily News Business.

Currently they have three Ayurveda spas in Germany and one in Prague in Czech republic, operating well in five star hotels. Therefore, with the spreading of demonstration news, the company had received many inquires from other hotels not only in Germany but also in other parts in the EU region, he said.

Hettigoda said that Siddahalepa products are very much known in Germany. It is the only licensed Ayurveda Company in whole of European Union region to sell their products.

Further, with the demonstration before the German Wellness Hall, the company got much recognition, because only exclusive companies are being invited for this type of demonstrations before the main hall , he said. With this demonstration they had received many inquiries from leading hotels, restaurants , tour operators to setup Ayurveda spas, he said.

He also said that Siddahalepa products give the real Sri Lanka experience and many of Germans have been attracted. Therefore,it is now a very popular brand in whole of Germany.

This enabled us to set up three Ayurveda centres in Germany within a short period of two years. We are in the process of setting up Ayurveda Centres in other European Union countries too, he said.

Hettigoda also said that ITB is showcased to promote unique Sri Lankan brands before the world. Community in Germany lauded me as the King of Balm.

In Sri Lanka Siddahalepa commands a very high market share and apart from business he also have taken series of steps to popularise Sri Lanka as a tourist destination.

ITB Berlin sets records

A record number of 11,147 exhibiting companies from 186 countries participated at the ITB Berlin held from March 5 to 9 in Berlin.

Managing Director of Messe Berlin, Dr. Christian G”ke, says, “The 42nd year of the event is evident that ITB Berlin is indisputably the number one in the global industry. This year we surpassed the 11,000 exhibitor barrier for the first time ever,” he said.

ITB Berlin offered a complete overview of all the products relating to travel, be it holiday or business travel. Every year sales in the order of over EUR 5 billion are generated at ITB Berlin.

“This year the auspices for further growth in the travel industry are very favourable.” The most recent UNWTO World Tourism Barometer numbers the increases in arrivals in international tourism at 898 million in 2007. This is 6 per cent more than in the previous year, he said.