from Leelananda Ihalagamage in Poland

The Sri Lanka Embassy in Poland held a business meeting at the Hotel Sheraton in Warsaw to promote tea and tourism in Sri Lanka. A selected group of representatives from leading tourism and trade agencies and the management of Hotel Sheraton attended the meeting.

Tea or "Herbata" (the Polish name for tea) is one of the most favourite beverages among the Polish community and is highly recognised as an effective health drink. There are different varieties of tea sold under several brand names in Supermarkets in Poland. But, the customers have no proper understanding about the quality and taste of these teas. This issue was highlighted at the meeting.

"One of the common problems that I have noticed is some small scale businessmen sell low quality tea mixed with a little good quality tea. There may be some reason for this unfair activity. I do not know how far it is reasonable. I have no proper idea of the story behind. That is why I strongly advise the Sri Lanka Embassy to launch a Tea Promotion campaign, as it is still not late but with a proper professional publicity program," Emmanuel Dalnodar, Director Food and Beverage at Hotel Sheraton said.

Sri Lanka Ambassador in Poland, Tudor Gunasekara said tea is Sri Lanka's largest agricultural export crop accounting for almost 15 percent of the entire export income. It is also the country's largest employer in the plantation sector, occupying about 88.00 percent of the workforce in the entire plantation sector. The total area of land under tea production in Sri Lanka is around 188,970 hectares, according to the tea land survey. The Sri Lanka Tea Industry depends greatly on their reputation. Tea will have a good future in Poland. There is also very positive demand for quality tea.

The embassy is ready to provide any information on importing tea to Poland at any given time, Mr. Gunasekera said.

Mr. Dalnodar said that tourism is one of the major potential areas, compared with other countries even in the Asian region. "Sri Lanka offers a variety of attractions for European travellers. Sri Lankan travel representatives can participate in the annual TT Fair (Travel and Tourism) in Warsaw. It is a very good opportunity to meet their counterparts here and exchange their ideas and business proposals related to tourism. Nearly 50 countries participate in this event," he said.

"There are many Polish families who have visited many parts of the world, but not Sri Lanka. Most of them have heard about Sri Lanka as a beautiful island, with cool mountains, beautiful beaches and luxury accommodation. If the authorities can arrange a tourism promotion campaign here, even at this stage, as an experienced hotel service management, we can definitely provide our assistance and cooperation, he said.

All the proposals and plans should be prepared with the assistance of SriLankan Airlines and Ceylon Tourist Board in this connection, he said.

Mr. Gunasekara also said that in order to observe the facilities and opportunities which are available in Poland to fulfil the objectives of the Sri Lankan business circle with the Polish business community, a business delegation should be organised. This was discussed between the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce and Polish Chamber of Commerce last year during the Poland President's visit. However, it has not yet been implemented.

Mr. Dalnodar said that the participation of the Minister of Foreign Affairs Lakshman Kadirgamar as head of the delegation will be an additional benefit and an further encouragement for the Sri Lankan and Polish business community.

Ambassador, Mr. Gunasekara, appreciated the ideas and the proposals made by the participants at the meeting and also agreed to launch a tea promotion campaign and a tourism promotional program after a discussion with the relevant authorities in Sri Lanka such as officials of the Sri Lanka Tea Board, Ceylon Tourist Board and SriLankan Airlines. He said that in addition to this proposed program, he would make arrangements to bring a trade delegation and also send a tourist group and a trade delegation to Sri Lanka, as he agreed with the Polish President, recently. He said that following a news report in connection with his first meeting with the Polish President in the Ceylon Daily News, there has been a good response.

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