ECONMYNEXT – Sri Lanka has failed to maintain a consistent and strategic tourism marketing campaign to boost the industry, an industry professional has said.
“We have been having few, you know, taglines for Sri Lanka for the past 10 years. So I think consistency is also something that we need to put in place with our strategy,” President of the Sri Lanka Association of Inbound Tour Operators (SLAITO) and the managing director of Aitken Spence Travels, Nalin Jayasundera told a forum.
“We have had about 7 chairmen during the last 10 years and about 5 taglines during the last 10 years.”
The tourism industry is Sri Lanka’s third largest industry, generating over 3.17 billion US dollars in 2024 surpassing the target of 3 billion US dollars.
However, missteps in the cohesive tourism promotion strategy holds back Sri Lanka’s potential as a tourism destination in the world, industry professionals say.
“There is a need for more consistent and integrated marketing communication for destination branding,” the Strategic Plan for Sri Lanka Tourism 2022-2025 states.
In the past 10 years, Sri Lanka’s tourism tagline changed multiple times: From ‘A Land like no other’, ‘Wonder of Asia’ in 2012, to ‘So Sri Lanka’ in 2018 to finally ‘You Will Come Back for More’ in 2023.
Taglines condense and convey the brand to a wider audience effectively.
India, Malaysia and Thailand have benefited from its single consistent taglines.
India’s “incredible India” campaign was launched in 2002 to promote India at both domestic and global level.
The tagline is one of the most established and recognised taglines in the world. Registered under the Trademark Act 1999, it was launched at the peak of a security crisis in Asia and America.
“At the peak of that crisis, with no tour operator supporting us, we went straight to the consumer and launched ‘incredible India’ campaign,” India’s G20 Sherpa and the pioneer force behind the tagline, Amitabh Kant has said.
Following the United States 9/11 attack and the Indian parliament attack in December 2001, India’s tourism industry suffered a massive wave of disinterest.
“We brought tourism back to India” Kant said. “Demand just grew, blossomed, that led to new airports being created in Hyderabad, Bangalore, Mumbai, Delhi.”
Malaysia’s tagline “Malaysia Truly Asia” coined in 1999, promotes the country highlighting its cultural diversity.
“No other country has Asia’s three major races, Malay, Chinese, Indian, plus various other ethnic groups in large numbers,” the Tourist Development Corporation of Malaysia has said.
Malaysia is now promoting dark tourism, travel to places historically associated with death and tragedy, to attract tourists.
“The evolving desires of travelers have led to Malaysia tapping trends that include coffee trails, houseboat holidays and motorhome adventures. Other escapades awaiting intrepid tourists include archaeological experiences and dark tourism,” The Strait Times said.
Dark tourism is an increasingly growing niche in the tourism sector in Malaysia.
“Although data on the exact number of visits to Malaysia’s dark tourism sites is limited, the growing presence of dark tourism can be observed nationwide,” Malaysia’s Taylor’s University said.
“It is essential to launch a global marketing campaign to target the consumer. Otherwise Sri Lanka will be the best kept secret in tourism,” Jayasundara said.
Consistent tagline gives a campaign recognition and memorability, potentially leading to massive growth.
A frequent change of taglines could create confusion, waste the tourism budget and might deviate the interest of the travelers to other nations with better marketing strategies. (Colombo/May26/2025)
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