Mastercard partners Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau to help revive tourism

Kimarli Fernando, chairperson, Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau (left) and Rajesh Mani, Country Manager, Sri Lanka & Maldives, Mastercard (right)

Expanding on its longstanding partnership with the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau (SLTPB), Mastercard announced that it has entered into an agreement with the SLTPB to offer Mastercard’s Tourism Insights platform, as well as consulting services at no cost to the government to support the revival of the island nation’s tourism sector.

This is part of Mastercard’s ongoing efforts to assist the government and other stakeholders in accelerating Sri Lanka’s recovery from the global health and economic crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Offering in-depth insights across the traveler journey, Mastercard will work with the SLTPB in helping align marketing efforts and optimize spends for greater reach and higher return. This will support Sri Lanka’s efforts to gain market share in international tourism, increase tourism’s contribution to the economy and enhance visitor experience, thereby powering the growth of local businesses.

“The tourism sector has always been one of the key drivers of the Sri Lankan economy. However, the industry is faced with unprecedented challenges, globally, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The SLTPB has been working closely with the government and all other stakeholders on accelerating the sector’s recovery and driving growth,” said Kimarli Fernando, chairperson, Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau. “Mastercard is one of our trusted partners and has been doing commendable work in promoting Sri Lanka as a preferred destination in several key markets. Under the new agreement, we will now have access to a wealth of insights and learnings from Mastercard. This will go a long way in helping us better understand traveler sentiment as well as spending patterns, enabling us to align our efforts accordingly.”

(Mastercard)