COLOMBO (News 1st) – SriLankan Airlines CEO Richard Nuttall was upbeat on on support of global travel trade for tourism revival in the country, however expressed concern over the exodus of pilots from the airline that is in its early stages."As Sri Lankan Airlines we carry 60% of the tourists that come to the country.
We also have 37 sales offices around the world and we are the first point of contact with many of the tour operators and travel agents that sell to the country.
What has really become clear over the last five or six months is, the challenge is not so much in selling Sri Lanka as a destination on what you can see here," he said.The CEO added that the concern has been from the foreign press and the travel advisories, that claim Sri Lanka is perhaps not safe.
He said that rather than spending the lots of dollars that the country doesn't have in going out and visiting other countries to try and promote the country, what the airlines need to do is bring the key sellers of the country, actually into Sri Lanka and show them that nothing has changed and the country is absolutely safe, ready, and it is time for tourism to come back. "We have brought in 170 of the key travel agents and the people who have historically sold Sri Lanka around the world.