Sri Lankan Night at the “Third Rome”
3 July 2013
The two week long “Mega Tourism Caravan” commenced its first phase on 3 July in the capital city of Russia, Moscow. This promotional campaign which will be conducted in Moscow, Nizhny Novgorod, Kazan, Ufa and Yekaterinburg covering a distance of almost 4000 kilo meters on wheels is the follow up of the “Mega Tourism Road Show” held in March – April 2013, in the Russian Federation, Ukraine and Republic of Kazakhstan. This enormous task of organizing weeks long tourism campaigns firstly in four major cities of Russia, Ukraine and Kazakhstan and subsequently in four major cities in Russia for the second time would not have been a reality, if not for the resolute and untiring efforts of His Excellency Udayanga Weeratunga, the Ambassador of Democratic Republic of Sri Lanka to the Russian Federation. His vast experience and hard earned knowledge on the tourism industry were the main attributes, which paved the way to successfully organize both “Mega Tourism Road Show” and “Mega Tourism Caravan”.
This time the campaign commenced its proceedings with a cultural show, namely the “Sri Lanka Night” at the Hotel Lotte Plaza, Moscow. The event attended by the diplomatic corps, leading travel and tour operators in Moscow, leading businessmen in both tourism and tea trade, leading print and electronic media persons and Sri Lankan Diaspora was well received and appreciated by all present at the ceremonial opening.
Addressing the august gathering the Ambassador stressed upon the need to promote tourism of Sri Lanka in Russia and CIS countries as the fifth largest tourist arrivals are from the said countries. Further, he spoke about the diplomatic and cultural relations between the two nations, traditional dancing of Sri Lanka and development of infrastructure in the country.
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. The photo exhibition of 120 photos covered the visits of His Excellency Mahinda Rajapaksa, President of Sri Lanka to the Russian Federation, Ukraine and Republic of Kazakhstan. It also covers major tourist destinations of the country namely; Anuradhapura, Polonnaruwa, Dambulla, Kandy, Sigiriya, Pinnawela and Nuwara Eliya along with scenic and pristine beaches along both Western and Eastern coasts, Sri Lankan cuisine, traditional dancing and wild life.
The event was held at the Crystal Ballroom of the Hotel Lotte Plaza, Moscow which is a One of Moscow’s newest hotels. The Lotte is an Asian export in the heart of the Russian capital’s shopping and financial districts, close to the Kremlin and new business district. The “Three Michelin” star chef, Pierre Gagnaire, along with a team trained exclusively in Paris, presided over the reception which followed the cultural show.
