Mastercard partners with Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau

By Edil Corneille

Today, global payments technology company Mastercard announced the expansion of its longstanding partnership with the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau (SLTPB). Mastercard has entered into an agreement with the SLTPB to offer Mastercard’s Tourism Insights platform, as well as consulting services at no cost to the government to support the revival of the island nation’s tourism sector.

Offering in-depth insights across the traveller journey, Mastercard will work with the SLTPB in helping align marketing efforts and optimise spends for greater reach and higher return. This is part of Mastercard’s ongoing efforts to assist the government and other stakeholders in accelerating Sri Lanka’s recovery from the global health and economic crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The tourism sector has always been one of the key drivers of the Sri Lankan economy. However, the industry is faced with unprecedented challenges, globally, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The SLTPB has been working closely with the Government and all other stakeholders on accelerating the sector’s recovery and driving growth,” said Kimarli Fernando, Chairperson, Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau. “Mastercard is one of our trusted partners and has been doing commendable work in promoting Sri Lanka as a preferred destination in several key markets. Under the new agreement, we will now have access to a wealth of insights and learnings from Mastercard. This will go a long way in helping us better understand traveler sentiment as well as spending patterns, enabling us to align our efforts accordingly.”

“Building on our longstanding partnership, Mastercard is excited to extend its Tourism Insights platform as well as consultancy services to the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau, at no cost to the Government. Gaining in-depth insights into travelers’ interests and preferences as well as their spending habits will help strengthen the Bureau’s ongoing efforts to revive the tourism sector. This initiative is part of Mastercard’s commitment to supporting the island nation’s efforts around driving post-pandemic recovery and growth,” said Rajesh Mani, Country Manager, Sri Lanka & Maldives, Mastercard. “Mastercard will continue to work with the Government and other related stakeholders to leverage the power of technology and digital payments to help Sri Lanka as a country, unleash its true potential.”

Analysing anonymised data around the entire consumer travel journey, pre- to post-trip, Mastercard’s Tourism Insights Platform offers a 360˚ view of the travel cycle. This will help the SLTPB gain a better understanding of visitors’ plans, interests, and preferences to guide channel marketing efforts. It will also provide aggregated and anonymised spending data, paired with social sharing, perceptions, sentiments, and experiences about the market. With the data being updated monthly, decision makers can stay abreast of changing trends and preferences. Mastercard’s data related service capability is expected to help the SLTPB to identify the most valuable and desirable tourist segments, top origination markets, and key opportunities to win market share.