Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau (SLTPB) is evaluating the impact of its digital campaign launched recently in the UK and France, the Ministry of Tourism Development, Wildlife, and Christian Affairs announced on Friday (21). The evaluation data will be used in fine tuning the digital campaign before its scheduled launch in Germany, India, and China in the next few weeks. This digital campaign is aimed at attracting targeted audiences from the respective markets via digital advertising within a window of six months. The evaluation of the digital campaign in the UK and France was carried out by a specialised team and their findings will help SLTPB to better understand the impact of this marketing drive and the results it has generated. Minister of Tourism Development, Wildlife, and Christian Affairs John Amaratunga, who was presented a copy of the evaluation by senior officials of Digital Spring UK, noted that the strategy of going digital has paid dividends. “We need to leverage modern technology to market Sri Lanka in the most effective manner. We have to understand the shift in global demographics and migrate to digital platforms in order to achieve greater reach, especially among the younger generation. This digital campaign not only provides information about our product offerings, but also engages the audience in an interactive manner, thereby making the experience more fruitful,” said Minister Amaratunga. The results of the evaluation were also presented to senior officials of SLTPB as well as representatives of the Tourist Hotels Association of Sri Lanka (THASL), Sri Lanka Association of Inbound Tour Operators (SLAITO), and Association of Small and Medium Enterprises in Tourism (ASMET) at the Ministry on Thursday (20). SLTPB Managing Director Charmarie Maelge said: “While SLTPB is driving a large number of conventional marketing programmes, we are also focused on digital marketing which gives us a high return on investment. In terms of marketing budgets utilised for this digital campaign, we have been able to create significant results in terms of engaging targeted potential customers.”