Riding on the back of a series of travel trade events focused on positioning Sri Lanka as a premiere MICE destination for markets around the world, the Sri Lanka Convention Bureau has now put the spotlight on the country’s pristine southern region, with its emerald coast and rich wildlife, through the inaugural edition of the Southern MICE Expo, which begins in Bentota, a chic destination in the southern region of the country.

Over 115 delegates, including 100 buyers and 15 media, from over a dozen countries around the world, including India, Russia, China, the United Kingdom, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Singapore, Malaysia, Germany and Turkiye, are attending the expo, which has been organised to promote one of the richest tourism circuits of Sri Lanka.

Krishantha Fernando

“We had organised the first MICE Expo, virtually, during the dark days of Covid-19. We had over 250 buyers and over 70 local vendors participating. Then we went with in-person format and hosted the first Sri Lanka MICE Expo in 2023 with 100 buyers and about 10 media. As that was also very successful, we decided to focus on regions, so organised one in Jaffna for promoting the northern region,’’ Krishantha Fernando, General Manager, SLCB tells India Outbound.

“After these, there was also a huge demand for doing something in the southern region. It has beautiful beaches and a rich wildlife. Yala National Park, in the southern region, has been ranked as sixth must-see sites by National Geographic magazine. So this Southern MICE Expo is an excellent opportunity to showcase the southern region,’’ Fernando adds.

Thisum Jayasuriya

Later in the evening, the official programme kickstarted with a business forum organised at Taj Bentota Beach, which was addressed by leaders of official Sri Lankan tourism organisations, including , Chairman, SLCB, Chalaka Gajabahu, Chairman, Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau as well as Shirantha Peiris, Chairman, Sri Lanka Institute for Tourism and Hotel Management.

In his address, Jayasuriya highlighted the importance of MICE to the global tourism industry. “The current global market size for MICE is estimated to be USD 1.03 trillion and is expected to reach USD 1.99 trillion by the year 2031,’’ Jayasuriya told the gathering.

Chalaka Gajabahu

In his address, Gajabahu said that tourism to Sri Lanka was recovering rapidly, despite having gone through prolonged period of troubles. “We had set a target of 1.5 million arrivals in 2023, we fell just short of that, missing by 10,000. This year, the way things are going, we are certain to exceed our target and go beyond the peak of 2018 when we received 2.3 million visitors,’’ Gajabahu said.

Though the delegation had participants from across the world, SLCB has focussed on India, its largest market. Indeed, a majority of delegates attending the Southern MICE Expo are from India. “India is our largest market and it is growing rapidly. The Indian outbound MICE market is expected to reach USD 13.4 billion by the year 2031. This is why we are paying a lot of attention to the Indian market,’’ he added.

To round the day off, a cultural programme and a gala dinner was organised.

On Tuesday, the official inauguration of the Expo, with a key note address by Harin Fernando, Minister of Tourism, as well as a series of other speeches will be organised. This will be followed by business to business meetings between the delegates and Sri Lankan vendors.