Aiming to revive the tourist industry of Sri Lanka in the aftermath of the devastating civil war, Sri Lanka Tourism officially launched its new logo and tagline “Sri Lanka Small Miracle”, ushering in a new era for Sri Lanka Tourism.
The new brand of Sri Lanka Tourism was conceptualized following months of research by A C Nielson, and strategic planning sessions intended to replace the current tagline “Sri Lanka, Land like No other”. As part of the communication campaign, many promotions, road shows and press conferences were planned across fifteen cities in ten countries leading up to the local launch- a move that is expected to attract and generate more tourists into the island.Leading up to the rebranding, Sri Lanka Tourism launched an island wide programme in May titled, “Making of the Small Miracle”. The main objective of this programme was to get all Sri Lankans to be a part of the rebranding. Local communities were asked to provide pictures, artifacts, and other collectibles that they believed was a good example of Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka Tourism ended this programme successfully last week, having collected thousands of items.
The collectibles were displayed at an exhibition on the day of the launch while some of the best items were used by the communication agency for the new print campaign.
Coinciding with the new brand launch, all communication material of Sri Lanka Tourism have been revamped .The website was re-launched with a new look and feel in keeping with the brand strategy while brochures with eight different themes unique to Sri Lanka have also been printed. Posters, stationary and other memorabilia will be available.
In addition a new print campaign will be launched in prominent international trade magazines as well as TV campaigns on BBC, CNN, Al Jazeera and Discovery Travel & Living. To mark the launch, Sri Lanka Tourism introduced value additional offers for tourists. A postcard campaign will be launched the day after the rebranding, where 250,000 post cards will be distributed while a discount booklet campaign will also launched with over 50 discount offers in a booklet. 10 postcards and a discount booklet will be bundled together and packed in a gift box and handled over to tourists arriving in Sri Lanka from June 24thfor a period of one month.
In addition, a cyber competition for the blogging community is planned to be launched for six months beginning this week.A radio campaign to promote lesser known places in Sri Lanka was also launched locally through Narambamu Sri Lanka – the domestic campaign.
A commemorative stamp was launched at a Press Conference which symbolized the new brand- Small Miracle.Meanwhile addressing the guests and media via a live feed from Temple Trees at the launch of Small Miracle at the BMICH, His Excellency President Mahinda Rajapaksa declared 2011 as a “Visit Sri Lanka Year”. In keeping with this theme, a series of activities and events have been planned in 2011 to lure in more tourists to the island.
President Rajapaksa in his address stated that “Having regained peace, my vision for development of tourism has become a reality. Every effort will be made and all resources will be provided to Sri Lanka Tourism to meet the target of 2.5 million tourists by 2016, as envisaged in the tourism strategic plan”