Reception on occasion of “World Food Moscow 2012 ” and “Leisure 2012″
18th September 2012
A grand reception was hosted by Ambassador Udayanga Weeratunga on 18 September 2012 to welcome Mr. Nishantha Wickramasinghe, Chairman of Sri Lankan Airlines, and to mark Sri Lanka’s participation in the Leisure Travel & Tourism Fair 2012 and the World Food Moscow 2012 trade exhibition held concurrently. The gala was held at the residence of the Ambassador. Eighty five distinguished guests both from the tourism and tea industries of Russia and Sri Lanka attended the event, also graced by the members of the diplomatic community.
In his address, the Ambassador highlighted the rise in tourist arrivals to Sri Lanka by 54% during the first part of the year, in comparison to the same period in 2011, however stressed the need for continued promotional activities to reach the declared target of 30,000 tourist arrivals in 2012.
Although several factors in the tea industry contribute to production and market prices, he went on to explain that major tea brands in Russia such as Akbar, Lipton, Orimi Trade, Ahmad Tea and May Company were the major players with nearly 85% of total market share and that Ceylon Tea promotion in Russia and the CIS countries were paramount to maintain market positions amidst competition from other producing nations. Following the sumptuous buffet dinner, the Ambassador invited his guests to partake of freshly brewed Ceylon Tea.
