Caravan 3

Caravan Arrives at the “Window on Asia”,Yekaterinburg
16 July 2013
On Sunday 15 July the “Mega Tourism Caravan” commenced its promotional program in Yekaterinburg. Yekaterinburg, alternatively Romanized as Ekaterinburg, is the fourth largest city in Russia and the administrative centre of Sverdlovsk oblast, located in the middle of the Eurasian continent, on the border of Europe and Asia. The city was one of Russia’s first industrial cities, prompted at the start of the eighteenth century by decrees from the Tsar requiring the development in Yekaterinburg of metal-working businesses. The city was built, with extensive use of iron, to a regular square plan with iron works and residential buildings at the centre. These were surrounded by fortified walls; so that Yekaterinburg was at the same time both a manufacturing centre and a fortress at the frontier between Europe and Asia. It therefore found itself at the heart of Russia’s strategy for further development of the entire Ural region. The so-called Siberian highway became operational in 1763 and placed the city on an increasingly important transit route, which led to its development as a focus of trade and commerce between east and west, and gave rise to the description of the city as the “Window on Asia”.
The major activities of the day were shopping mall activation at Mega Yekaterinburg and open air cultural program at the Mayakovsky Central Park. Mega Ekaterinburg is one of the leading retail complexes in the Sverdlovsk Region: every fifth resident visits MEGA twice a month. In addition, it is one of the few shopping malls in the city that represents the quality retail segment. MEGA is one of the largest shopping malls in the city and is mentioned as the most visited shopping centre by the city residents. World-famous and Russian brands, including unique tenants for the whole region, such as IKEA and hypermarket Auchan opened their first stores here. During the shopping mall activation; Sri Lankan traditional dancing performances, distribution of leaflets/souvenirs, tourism promotional videos and liquid Ceylon tea service was successfully carried out.
In the evening the program was conducted at the Mayakovsky Central Park which is named after a famous Soviet poet Vladimir Mayakovsky. The park is the largest in Yekaterinburg and offers lots of recreation and amusements facilities for children and adults. The cultural show of three hours performed by the Dance Guild of the maestro Chandana Wickramasinghe, enthralled and pleased the audience with many a traditional dancing, drum fusion, mask dancing, drum orchestra and medley of folk songs.

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Mega Boost for Sri Lankan Tourism in Yekaterinburg
15 July 2013
On the final day of the tourism promotion campaign shopping mall activation and workshop for travel and tour operators were conducted at the Mega Yekaterinburg and Hotel Atrium Palace respectively. The workshop conducted in collaboration with Russian Express, Tez Tours, Connaissance Travels, Moldiviana, Coral Travels, Parks and Labriant Travels, at the Atrium Hotel in the morning hours had an attendance of over one hundred tour operators and was . Offering with free wifi and a great location just 15 minutes walk from Holy Trinity Cathedral and Yekaterinburg TV Tower, Atrium Palace is a perfect luxury four star hotel in the Yekaterinburg city center. In addition the hotel is near to the Metro station, Fine Arts Museum, Yekaterinburg Circus, Opera and Ballet House and Novo Tikhvinskiy Convent which are a five minute drive away. Other points of interest include Ural Philharmonic Orchestra, Afghanistan War Memorial, Church on Blood in Honor of All Saints Resplendent in the Russian Land and Ural State University.
Due the promotional events undertaken by the Embassy, SLTPB and other private sector enterprises there is substantial increment of tourist arrivals from Russia and CIS countries. During the year 2012 tourist arrivals from Russia and CIS countries marked as 51746, which is an increment of almost 64 per cent to the arrivals in 2011 (2011 – 31592). The tourist arrivals in the first five months of 2013 mark an increment of 22.4 per cent than of the same period of 2012. The following illustration indicates the annual increment of tourist arrival from CIS countries.
The “Mega Tourism Caravan” which was conducted in the Russian Federation for two weeks concluded its journey on 16 July. This mega campaign under taken by the Embassy of Sri Lanka in the Russia, covering almost 4000 kilo meters and five major cities of the Russian Federation, would not have been a reality if not for the planning, guidance and supervision of the Ambassador Udayanga Weeeratunga.

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Sri Lankan Night at the Kashkadan Park, Ufa
13 July 2013
Adding novelty to the campaign on Saturday the major promotional event, “Sri Lankan Night” was held at the Kashkadan Park, Ufa. It is one of the largest parks in the city, where carefully manicured landscapes are combined with the developed infrastructure for mass recreation and entertainment. During the program the cultural troupe entertained the large gathering with thirty six items of traditional dancing, drum fusion; mask dancing, drum orchestra and medley of folk songs. In addition distribution of tea sachets, leaflets/souvenirs, tourism promotional videos and gift packs was also carried out.
During the day time the promotional activities were conducted at the Mega Ufa. Mega Ufa is the 14th project of the network of family shopping centers developed by IKEA Real Estate in Russia. Total area of the shopping center makes 130 thousand square meters. Complex operation is ensured by approximately 3 000 employees. The shopping mall has a choice of retailers of about 180 different brands. The shops are grouped according to topic and located in several areas: Family, Teenage and Classic fashion, Sport, Electronic appliances, Food and Entertainment. Moreover, Mega Ufa shopping center offers its visitors a wide range of different services such as: a bank outlet, a beauty shop, a drycleaner’s, a drugstore and a travel agency. And, of course, one of the center’s main attractions is the central food court with an ice ring and countless operators of fast food, cafes and restaurants.
Spa conducted by the Siddhalepa was also a major attraction in the promotional campaign. Siddhalepa is the trademark of an herbal balm that is believed to help to relieve body aches and pains. With a sum of RS, 2,500/= Ayurvedic Doctor Victor Hettigoda began production of the balm in 1971. Dr. Hettigoda had spent 12 years under his father’s tutelage learning the secrets of Ayurveda. Hettigoda first sold the product by travelling around the country convincing boutique owners and small retailers that it was genuine. Victor Hettigoda’s dynamism knew no limits. He travelled to every remote village in Sri Lanka to promote the Siddhalepa Balm. His tireless efforts were ultimately rewarded. Today, his Company is a resounding success with a global network.
One of the most valued items, in terms of tourism promotion, is the audio CD distributed during the campaign. This package of two audio CD’s gives an exclusive commentary on 49 important tourist locations and covers Colombo, Kelaniya, Pinnawela Anuradhapura, Sigiriya, Dambulla, Mihintale Polonnraruwa, Euwara Eliya, Kandy, Yala nad Galle. The package which is been published in Russian language is an excellent tour guide to the tourist from Russia and CIS countries. The first edition was published in 2008 and more than 5000 copies have been distributed. All tourists flying to Sri Lanka by Srilankan Airlines has been availed with the opportunity of listening to the on board Audio CD.

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“Mega Tourism Caravan” arrived in Kazan
12 July 2013
The third stop of the caravan was at Ufa, the capital city of the Republic of Bashkortostan, Russia, and the industrial, economic, scientific and cultural center of the republic. The city began as a fortress built on the orders of Ivan the Terrible in 1574, and originally bore the name of the hill it stood on, Tura-Tau. It was granted town status in 1586 and by the 18th century evolved into a trading, manufacturing and cultural center of Southern Ural. After the outbreak of the Pugachec’s Rebellion, it went through the most brutal events in its early history; the fortress and the city were in the middle of the military actions. For several months during the winter of 1773–1774, Ufa was under siege by Cossack and Bashkir insurgents until they were fought off by the arrived government forces.
Before becoming the seat of a separate Uafa Governorate in 1781, the city, along with the rest of the Bashkir lands, was under the jurisdiction of the Orenberg governors. And even though the 1796 reform reunited Orenburg and Ufa again, in 1802 the city of Ufa became a new center of the entire Orenberg Governorate that included large territories of modern-day Republic of Bashkortostan, Orenberg Oblast and Chelyabinsk Oblast. During the 1800-1810s, Scottish Russian architect William Heste developed a general city plan for Ufa as a regional capital shaping the modern outline of its historical center.
On Friday, a very successful workshop was held at the ‘President Hotel’, in collaboration with ‘Russian Express’, a renowned tour operator in Russia. Russian Express Holding was founded in 1996 and has become one of the leaders of the Russian tourist business since that time. Besides sales-centers in Moscow, Saint-Petersburg and Yekaterinburg there Russian Express subsidiaries and representative offices in Izhevsk, Kazan, Nizhny Novgorod, Novosibirsk, Omsk, Perm, Rostov-on Don, Samara, Ufa and Chelyabinsk. Russian Express is one of the leading Russian tour operators which send Russian tourists abroad to more than fifty countries.
Addressing the audience of more than one hundred tour operators the Ambassador spoke about history, climatic conditions, major tourist attractions, major cities, visa procedures and recent infrastructure developments in the spheres’ of socio – economic and tourism of Sri Lanka. Sri Lankan Airlines and Russian Express also conducted presentations at the venue. The venue for Friday’s major event “The President Hotel” is the largest in Ufa, which has the most modern hotel room capacity among the hotels of its class in the Republic of Bashkortostan.
In the evening the Ambassador paid a courtesy call on Mr. Khamitov R. Zakievich, President of the Republic of Bashkortostan.

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Caravan-3 successful day of the tourism campaign, in Kazan
11 July 2013
Thursday, 11 July was the second successful day of the tourism campaign, in Kazan, the city with largest Information Technology Park in Russia. It is also, one of the largest industrial and financial centers of Russia, and a leading city of the Volga Economic Region in construction and accumulated investment.
On Thursday, the major promotional event was the shopping mall activation at Mega Kazan. Mega Kazan is one of the most visited complexes in the city with brand awareness of 98% and a number of unique stores such as Inditex brands, Karen Millen, Decathlon, New Look, Mothercare, MoDaMo. The main tenants of MEGA are Swedish IKEA store and the German DY retailer OBI. In Kazan the name is true – so far it has been the biggest mall. It is also the most attractive for weekend shopping with lots of cars at the parking with license plates from all over the Volga region. For many IKEA or OBI are the main targets. Locals prefer to choose between lots of street fashion shops, including Zara, Mango, Mexx, Gant, CK jeans, Next. The skating ring in the catering are is always occupied with kids and couples. Food court is traditional with fast food, sushi and the Il Patio restaurant.
Kazan boasts a well-developed retail market while other cities in the Republic of Tatarstan are still at the early stages of retail market development. Residents of these other towns and cities prefer to travel to Kazan to shop. As a rule, the people of Kazan prefer to do their shopping ar retail complexes and hypermarkets.
At the shopping mall many a handicraft produced by the State owned Gift and Souvenir Boutique “Laksala” were displayed thus attracting large number of visitors to the Sri Lankan stand. Established under the National Skills Act of 1982 this renowned Gift and Souvenir Boutique operates through ten branches located island wide and offer the widest variety of all Sri Lankan products at a reasonable price. Most importantly, Laksala enables the numerous industries that supply goods to it to stay both profitable and in business.
Another major attraction during the activation was the tantalizing dancing performance of the Sri Lankan Dancing troupe. The Perehara which travelled through the mall was also highly taken up by the gathering. Distribution of booklets, leaflets, T shirts and gift packs too were carried out at the venue. Here also the liquid tea service organized by the embassy served more than one thousand visitors.

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“Mega Tourism Caravan” arrived in Kazan
10 July 2013
Having conducted a successful campaign in Nizhny the “Mega Tourism Caravan” arrived in Kazan on Wednesday, 10 July. Kazan is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Tatarsta, Russia. With a population of 1,143,535, it is the eight most populous city in Russia. Kazan lies at the confluence of the Volga and Kazankas in European Russia. The Kazan Kremlin is a World Heritage site and in 2005, the medal “In commemoration of the 1000th Anniversary of Kazan” was established by Russia to denote this landmark event. The multi-ethnic city is honored by UNESCO and famous for Muslims and Christians living side-by-side in peace.
Kazan is one of the largest industrial and financial centers of Russia, and a leading city of the Volga Economic Region in construction and accumulated investment. Total banking capital of Kazan banks is third in Russia. The main industries of the city are: mechanical engineering, chemical, petrochemical, light and food industries. An innovative economy is represented by the largest IT-park in Russia which is one of the largest of its kind among Eastern Europe science parks Kazan ranks 174th (highest in Russia) in Mercer’s Worldwide Quality of Living Survey.
Major events o the date were shopping mall activation at Mega Kazan and workshop for tour and travel operators at Hotel Kazan Riviera. At the Admiral Hall of the Hotel Kazan Riviera, the proceedings of the day commenced with traditional dances of the cultural troupe. The Ambassador who was the main speaker of the day conducted a very educative presentation on Sri Lankan Tourism. During the presentation he covered salient points such as history, climatic conditions, major tourist attractions, major cities, visa procedures and recent infrastructure developments in the spheres’ of socio – economic and tourism. Sri Lankan Airlines also conducted a presentation at the venue. The workshop which was well attended had almost one hundred and twenty five tour and travel operators.
“Kazan Riviera” hotel and entertainment complex are located on the bank of Kazanka River, and its aqua park has become the bright pearl among the numerous treasures of the city admired by thousands of tourists. There is not a single citizen in Kazan who is not familiar with the grand silhouettes of this unique European-style resort. The complex comprises: “Riviera” hotel – the tallest four-star hotel in Tatarstan, ultra-modern “Riviera” aquapark – one of the largest in the world, beach with heated outdoor pools, “Planet Fitness” fitness club of premium level, “Riviera” entertainment complex.

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Mega Tourism Caravan in Nizhny Novgorod -Day 2
09 July 2013
Continuing for the second day, on the 9 July «Mega Tourism Caravan” conducted its promotional activities in Nizhny Novgorod. The major event of the day was “Shopping Mall Activation” at the Mega Nizhniy Novgorod. MEGA is one the most frequently visited shopping mall in Nizhny Novgorod. The prime location of MEGA Nizhny Novgorod, the first super-regional shopping mall in the city makes it the major player among shopping malls in the region. MEGA houses the first OBI in Nizhny Novgorod, the only Auchan and an IKEA store. ZARA, Marks and Spencer, Adidas, Ann Chris-tine, Vero Moda and New Yorker have opened for the first time in Nizhny Novogord at MEGA.
In addition to the day’s program a special promotional event was held at the Shopping Mall «Fantastika» which is the largest shopping and recreation center in Nizhny Novgorod and Nizhny Novgorod region.
During the shopping mall activation six sessions of dancing performance was conducted by the visiting Sri Lankan troupe covering thirty six items of traditional dancing, drum fusion; mask dancing, drum orchestra and medley of folk songs. In addition distribution of tea sachets, leaflets/souvenirs, tourism promotional videos and gift packs was also carried out. The liquid tea service arranged by the Embassy served more than one thousand visitors to the Sri Lankan stand.

In the afternoon His Excellency Udayanga Weeratunga paid a courtesy call on Mr. Birman Dmitry Petrovich, Deputy Head of the City of Nizhny Novgorod. Mr. Petrovich invited the Ambassador to conduct Sri Lankan Cultural Program, in September 2013. Also, he promised to arrange more investors from Nizhny to Sri Lanka.

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Mega Tourism Caravan in Nizhny Novgorod Day 1
8-9 July 2013
On Monday, 8 July the “Mega Tourism Caravan” arrived at the fifth largest city of the Russian Federation. Nizhny Novgorod, is, with a population of 1,250,615, the fifth largest city in Russia and the Administrative center of Nizhny Novgorod Oblast. The city is located at the confluence of two most important rivers, Volga and Oka. The name literally means Lower Newtown to distinguish it from the older Velik Novgorod.
The first event of the day, «Workshop for travel and tour operators” was held in the Yalta Hall of the Marins Hotel. The workshop which was attended by approximately one hundred participants was the first, to be held in Nizhny. At the be-ginning of the workshop H.E. Udayanga Weeratunga very warmly welcomed all participants and conducted a very informative and educative presentation on Sri Lankan Tourism. During the presentation he covered salient points such as his-tory, climatic conditions, major tourist attractions, major cities, visa procedures and recent infrastructure developments in the spheres’ of socio – economic and tourism.
The «Mega Tourism Caravan” conducted its promotional activities in Nizhny Novgorod. The major event of the day was “Shopping Mall Activation” at the Mega Nizhniy Novgorod. MEGA is one the most frequently visited shopping mall in Nizhny Novgorod. The prime location of MEGA Nizhny Novgorod, the first super-regional shopping mall in the city makes it the major player among shopping malls in the region. MEGA houses the first OBI in Nizhny Novgorod, the only Auchan and an IKEA store. ZARA, Marks and Spencer, Adidas, Ann Chris-tine, Vero Moda and New Yorker have opened for the first time in Nizhny Novogord at MEGA.

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Sri Lankan Grandeur at the “Mega Moscow”
4-7 July 2013
IMG_3042Exhibiting the Sri Lankan grandeur on Saturday and Sunday, the promotional activities were conducted at the one of the most visited place in Moscow, the “Mega Moscow”, which has a visitor turnover of 2,450,000 monthly. MEGA complex combines such large stores like IKEA, garden centre Mega Moscow, Auchan Hypermarket, DIY OBI, Media Market, Hypermarket M. Video, Hypermarket of Sport Goods Dekatlon, entertainment park Crazy Park, bowling and billiard club Kosmik, 15 cinema halls, a skating ring. MEGA has the widest choice of stores under one roof which means, they offer the best shopping opportunity for visitors at competitive prices. MEGA is a unique development project in Russia by IKEA Group; it is a conceptual family trade and entertainment centre, one of the largest in Russia and in East Europe.
In promoting the tourism industry in the country, the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau takes the lead among the others with having two main objectives of: Marketing and promoting of Sri Lanka directly or indirectly as a tourist and travel destination of quality in accordance with the Tourism Development Plan in consultation with the Authority and promoting Sri Lanka as a gateway to the South Asian Regions; and making Sri Lanka known as the centre of excellence in tourism management and development in the region. The Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau is the institute responsible for all marketing and promotional functions of Sri Lanka, which is also responsible for overseas marketing and promotional functions.
One of the major participants of the campaign is the State owned Gift and Souvenir Boutique “Laksala” which was established under the National Skills Act of 1982. This renowned Gift and Souvenir Boutique operates through ten branches located island wide and offer the widest variety of all Sri Lankan products at a reasonable price. Most importantly, Laksala enables the numerous industries that supply goods to it to stay both profitable and in business.
During the weekend the campaign was well received by the visitors of Mega Moscow who were introduced to Sri Lanka by the Ambassador and in shopping mall activations; Sri Lankan traditional dancing performances including a “Perehara” entertained the visitors which was a major attraction. Apart from that distribution of leaflets/souvenirs, tourism promotional videos and T shirts were carried out. And also more than five thousand Ceylon tea cups were served to all spectators.

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Caravan-3, Become a reality and a success
4 July 2013
Nestled by the banks of the Moscow River, the Radisson Slavyanskaya Hotel and Business Center, Moscow offers an ideal location, facilities and atmosphere for tourism promotion. Thus on Friday the 5th for the second consecutive day the Workshop for the leading tour operators was conducted at the Chaykovsky hall of the Hotel Radisson Slavyanskaya. The hotel which is adjacent to the new Europe Plaza, fountain and crystal bridge features 14 meeting rooms spread over 4,400 square meters and can accommodate a meeting for 15 or an event for 1,500.
In the morning the workshop conducted with the collaboration of another well known tour operator in Moscow, “Labirint”. The company has been founded in 1995 as a tour operator for Greece and Finland with head office in Moscow. The most prolific destinations are Greece, Finland, Scandinavian countries, Baltic countries, France, Germany, Russia, Israel, Africa with tour types been Package tours, recreational tours, escorted tours, cruises, ski packages, fishing tours, conference tours, incentive tours, business trips, tours to exhibitions. The company takes part in renowned exhibitions such as MITT, MITF, Leisure (Moscow), МАТКА (Helsinki), Philoxenia (Thessaloniki), ITB (Berlin). Also it has regional representative offices in Perm, Saratov, Cheliabinsk, Kazan, Nizhnij Novgorod, Volgograd, Ufa, Krasnodar, Novosibirsk, Rostov-on – Don.
Once again, having very warmly welcomed all participants His Excellency Udayanga Weeratunga conducted a very informative and educative presentation on Sri Lankan Tourism. The workshop which was once again attended by more than one hundred representatives was concluded in the afternoon. During the workshops the attendees were presented with audio CD package. This package of two Audio CD’s gives an exclusive commentary on 49 important tourist locations and covers Colombo, Kelaniya, Pinnawela Anuradhapura, Sigiriya, Dambulla, Mihintale Polonnraruwa, Euwara Eliya, Kandy, Yala nad Galle. The package which is been published in Russian language is an excellent tour guide to the tourist from Russia and CIS countries. The first edition was published in 2008 and more than 5000 copies have been distributed. All tourists flying to Sri Lanka by Srilankan Airlines has been availed with the opportunity of listening to this CD on board.
In the afternoon hours of the day the next major event of the campaign; shopping mall activation commenced at the shopping mall “Mega Belya Dacha” in Moscow. Major participants of the activation were “Laksala” “Siddalepa” and ‘Sri Lankan Airlines”. During the event the spectators were issued with tourism promotional materials, gift items and tea sachets. The liquid tea service organized by the Embassy served the gathering whilst the dancing troupe entertained them.

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