Over the previous few years, Sri Lanka has gained reputation amongst Indian vacationers. In accordance with information launched by the Sri Lanka Tourism Growth Authority, as reported by All India Radio Information, over three lakh of the 15 lakh vacationers who visited the island nation in 2024 as much as October have been Indians, making India the biggest supply of vacationers for Sri Lanka.
It’s not completely shocking, then, to see the island nation’s nationwide service launch an commercial across the Ramayana to lure Indians away from their ordinary winter locations —on this case, Goa.
Relive the epic of The Ramayana Path
Embark on a journey by means of Sri Lanka’s legendary landscapes with SriLankan Holidays, providing a totally custom-made expertise tailor-made only for you. Each step of your journey is designed to carry out the grandeur and glory within the historical… pic.twitter.com/jctUhc4JKn
— SriLankan Airways (@flysrilankan) November 8, 2024
A five-minute advert from SriLankan Airways exhibits a grandmother instructing her grandson concerning the epic Ramayana, explaining how the locations talked about in it are actual and accessible to guests. Among the places highlighted embody the Ram Setu bridge, or the Adam’s Bridge; the backyard the place Ravana imprisoned Sita; and Rumassala, part of the mountain that Hanuman carried from the Himalayas to Lanka (now Sri Lanka). The advert goals to advertise the Ramayana Path, a tourism initiative that showcases key places from the epic.
What’s well timed concerning the advert is the second at which it’s gaining reward and recognition in India. Simply days in the past, Goa’s tourism board filed a police grievance towards an X person, Ramanuj Mukherjee, over his submit, which used information to recommend that international vacationers have been more and more selecting Sri Lanka over Goa.
In accordance with the Hindustan Occasions (HT), deputy director of tourism Rajesh Kale alleged that Mukherjee had shared wildly inaccurate information to make the case that international vacationer visits to Goa had dropped considerably.
“Mukherjee referenced China Financial Data Centre (CEIC) information in his submit; nevertheless, the credibility of this information is questionable as he neither consulted with the Division of Tourism previous to posting nor validated the info he collected. His false assumptions relating to future vacationer footfall in Goa additional exacerbate the scenario. The statements made by Shri Ramanuj Mukherjee seem to have the intent to trigger public unrest and should incite people to commit offences towards the state or disturb public tranquillity,” the grievance alleged, as per HT.
Mukherjee countered the declare on X, saying: “It’s humorous that they declare CEIC information is Chinese language. You may go to their ‘About Us’ web page and see that it’s headquartered in London. It has two places of work in India—Mumbai and Bangalore—and a presence in 18 international locations. Nowhere on its web site does it say it’s the Chinese language Financial Data Heart. The Goa authorities lied in a police grievance. Digest that. If you wish to make up a narrative, do a greater job, perhaps? How incompetent are these babus?”
On social media, many individuals have raised considerations concerning the steep costs and the taxi mafia’s refusal to permit Uber and Ola to function in Goa. Famous journalist and journey and meals columnist Vir Sanghvi wrote within the Hindustan Occasions final December, “Frankly, you would need to actually love Goa (as I do) or be very ill-informed to pay Goa costs. It is likely one of the most costly short- to medium-haul locations Indian vacationers can go to.”
Because the 12 months winds down and journey plans start taking form on WhatsApp teams, SriLankan Airways’ advert has actually received many hearts.
Written with the View : afaqs