Sri Lanka, Premier Sponsor at Australian Tourism Leaders event in SYDNEY: Sri Lanka is Open, Sri Lanka is SAFE and Sri Lanka Welcomes visitors

December 10, 2025

The Council of Australian Tour Operators (CATO), the leading travel industry body in Australia ended an eventful year with one of the most anticipated events on the travel industry calendar, a Christmas lunch on 4 November 2025, at the Sheraton Grand Hotel in Sydney, which was attended by industry leaders; their business partners and friends.

The Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau was a premier partner of the event, hosting a Sri Lankan themed arrival reception featuring drinks and canapés inspired by Sri Lankan cuisine; Sri Lankan decorative items and a Sri Lanka tourism branded photo backdrop. Five lucky tour operators won Sri Lanka tour packages.

Mr. Dennis Bunnik, Chairman of CATO and owner of Bunnik Tours, which company has been promoting travel to Sri Lanka for 30 years spoke movingly about the diverse travel experiences Sri Lanka offers and his love for Sri Lanka and the hospitable people of Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka High Commissioner Yasoja Gunasekera, in her remarks, took the opportunity to inform top Australian travel industry leaders that despite the magnitude of the disaster following Cyclone Ditwah, Sri Lanka’s tourism sector is already back on its feet and every major tourism destination in Sri Lanka is open. She stressed that Sri Lanka is open, Sri Lanka is safe and Sri Lanka needs its visitors now more than ever.

Sri Lanka has now become one of the most sought after travel destinations in Australia and there is tremendous interest amongst top leaders of the Australian travel industry in promoting travel to Sri Lanka.

High Commission of Sri Lanka
Canberra

10 December 2025