Cinnamon launches ‘Bring A Friend Home’ Campaign to speed up tourism recovery in Sri Lanka
Cinnamon’s Bring A Friend Home (BAFH) introduces an exclusive initiative to spearhead tourism in Sri Lanka and also to overcome challenges faced by the tourism industry. BAFH encourages fellow Sri Lankans living in the island nation and overseas as well as expats living in Sri Lanka to nominate foreign friends to visit the island through an array of attractive packages.
The key objectives of this campaign are to communicate a sense of urgency to visit Sri Lanka and create user-generated content to spread the message that Sri Lanka is safe to visit. The campaign is developed to generate much needed positive publicity to Sri Lanka.
BAFH follows a simple 4-step process; Register – Invite – Accept – Travel. Sri Lankans living here or overseas and even expats living in Sri Lanka with a resident visa are eligible to nominate foreign friends to this campaign. Visit www.bringafriendhome.com and register by entering the name, email and contact number. This gives applicants the opportunity to invite one or more friends living overseas via email, WhatsApp, Facebook or Twitter and also be eligible for a raffle draw. Invitations can be sent from 30th July – 15th December 2019 for stays within the same period.
The invitee – any foreign passport holder or Sri Lankan expat – can then proceed to accept the invitation by purchasing one or more packages listed on the campaign website at www.cinnamonboxoffice.com. A range of packages are available to choose from, including beach, nature, adventure and city tours specially curated for showcasing Sri Lanka’s tourism offerings. The invitee must travel to Sri Lanka between 1st August and 15th December 2019 and register on the campaign website to enter the raffle draw, which will take place in January 2020. All travel and registrations should be completed by or before 15th December 2019.
The 1st Prize in the raffle draw for the Sri Lankan referees is a choice between a 1-year stay at a Cinnamon Life apartment or a 7-day stay for 2 individuals valid at 2 Cinnamon’s properties for 3 consecutive years. Additionally, they are gifted a voucher worth Rs. 499,999 from Colombo Jewellery Stores. The 2nd Prize includes a 7 nights stay at 2 Cinnamon’s properties located in Sri Lanka valid for 2 consecutive years for up to two individuals and 3rd Prize includes 5 nights stay at a Cinnamon’s property located in the Maldives for up to two individuals including airport transfers.
The 1st Prize for the visiting foreign friend is a 5 nights stay at a Cinnamon’s properties located in the Maldives for up to two individuals including airport transfers and Rs 1,000,000 worth Sapphire stone ring by Colombo Jewellery Stores. The 2nd Prize includes a 5 nights stay at a Cinnamon’s property located in the Maldives for up to two individuals including airport transfers. By courtesy of Positive Sri Lanka, there will be monthly giveaways by Lovi Sarong and Siyath Gavin Photography with each offering Rs 99,000 worth of giveaways, while Wax Museum will be offering Rs 25,000 and Tiesh, Rs 15,000 worth of giveaways respectively.
The campaign is set to expedite the tourism arrivals to the country and is part of Cinnamon’s contribution towards the recovery process. Launched with the active participation of all local industries, Cinnamon is engaging both locals and foreign tourists, taking ownership for creating exemplary change across the tourism sector. Jacqueline Fernandez, former Miss Sri Lanka and current Bollywood sensation, was the first visitor under this promotional campaign, and celebrated her birthday in Sri Lanka with 15 of her friends from Bollywood, to kick-start the campaign during the first week of August.
Speaking about Cinnamon’s Bring A Friend Home initiative, Kishu Gomes, Chairman, Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau stated “It is a timely initiative by Cinnamon to help regain Sri Lanka’s formerly attained standard of tourism as an island that was known as one of the must-travel places for year 2019. Projects of this nature will globally amplify the impact of the destination and trigger an international prerequisite to visit Sri Lanka. This campaign will help spread a positive outlook of the country across the world, showing that it is safe to visit and is open to tourism.”
“Cinnamon’s Bring a Friend Home promotion aims to create some much-needed enthusiasm and excitement for Sri Lanka once again as an experiential travel destination,” stated Dileep Mudadeniya, Vice President John Keells Group, Head of Brand Marketing Cinnamon Hotels and Resorts and CEO of Cinnamon Life Mall. “Sri Lanka is ready to welcome visitors to its sun-kissed shores once again, and who better to endorse our country than ourselves? Each one of us now has the opportunity to be brand ambassadors to this paradise we call home, and invite our friends from around the world to witness this unrivalled beauty together with us.”
Cinnamon presents Bring A Friend Home In association with So Sri Lanka, Cinnamon Life and Kapruka, with Sri Lankan Airlines as the Airlines partner, Triad as the Creative and Website partner, Colombo Jewellery Stores as the Jewellery Partner, eMarketing Eye as the Digital Partner, Cinnamon Air as the Domestic Airline Partner, while supported by Positive Sri Lanka and Love Sri Lanka. It is a promotional campaign is initiated with the overarching objective of reviving tourism in Sri Lanka.Visit www.bringafriendhome.com to invite your friends home today!