‘The BIA Shopping Festival,’ a mega seasonal promotion will be taking place at the Bandaranaike International Airport, Departure/Transit area, all throughout the December holiday season continuing on to January 15, 2011. As the first ever event of its kind at the Airport where all shops have joined together in a collective manner to promote the Airport as a destination, and the first mega promotion in the ‘Visit Sri Lanka 2011’ calendar, it is set to provide an unforgettable experience to passengers.
Commenting on the event Prasanna J Wickramasuriya, Chairman of the Airport and Aviation Services (Sri Lanka) (AASL) said, “after almost three decades of turmoil in our country, peace prevails in a renewed Sri Lanka and we feel that contributing to this sense of euphoria is mandatory on our part.” He also added, “Tourism has played an excellent part in the growth and development of the country and the Airport plays a vital role as it is the first point of arrival to our country and the last place that passengers spend time prior to returning to their respective country.”
The festival will reward shoppers with a lucky draw. Any passenger who makes a sales transaction of ten US dollars or more at any shop in the Departure/Transit area will be entitled to enter the lucky draw, where five winners will be given the opportunity to win up to a million rupees in prize money. The first prize is worth Rs 500,000, second, worth Rs 250,00 and third, Rs 150,000 while fourth and fifth place will be awarded with Rs 75,000 and Rs 25,000 respectively. All taxes associated with prize money will be borne by AASL.
Malraj B Kiriella, Acting Managing Director, Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau adding his thoughts on the promotion said, “Sri Lanka is witnessing a dramatic rise in visitors and promotions such as these will increase the popularity of the destination. We at Sri Lanka Tourism are also launching several campaigns and promotions in keeping with the theme, ‘Refreshingly Sri Lanka Visit 2011’ in order to attract the increased number of tourists expected next year.”
Enticing passengers to arrive at the airport early and spend at least an hour visiting the shops and embracing the ambience of the seasonal gaiety is one aim of this promotion. Another is to create an atmosphere where the Airport would be more than just an entry, transit and departure point for passengers in a time of steadily increasing tourist arrivals.
