At the three-day Business, Leisure and Luxury Travel Mart (BLTM), which concluded in New Delhi on 31 August, the Sri Lanka Convention Bureau (SLCB) has been recognised as the ‘Most Promising MICE Destination.’

The SLCB organised participation at the BLTM exhibition held at the India International Convention Centre (IICC), YashoBhoomi, New Delhi from 29-31 August.

BLTM is an exclusive three-day travel mart focused on business, leisure, travel, and MICE tourism. The event provided destination marketers and travel service providers an opportunity to meet and network with each other for fruitful business negotiations with the Indian travel trade. BLTM is an annual event hosted in New Delhi, India.

There were 32 local travel and tourism industry participants attending this year’s program. SriLankan Airlines, the national carrier of Sri Lanka, has also partnered with the SLCB to promote Sri Lanka as a MICE destination. 

The SLCB, the Government organisation functioning under the Tourism and Lands Ministry, organised participation at BLTM as part of the Annual Marketing Plan 2024. 

The SLCB has been recognised as the partner country of BLTM 2024, and sponsored the exhibition lanyards. This included destination branding and were distributed among all attendees of the exhibition, including exhibitors, hosted buyers, and visitors. 

India is a major market for Sri Lanka tourism, focusing on both business and leisure tourism, with the highest number of arrivals. As per the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority, 225,641 tourists arrived from India during the period from January to July 2024, representing 18% of total arrivals. India is the number one source market for Sri Lanka for both leisure and business events.  The SLCB was supported by the Sri Lanka High Commission in New Delhi, India in organising the event. As per BLTM statistics, Sri Lanka had the biggest delegation of participation at BLTM 2024.