SriLankan Airlines launched a Travel Agents Portal at its recently concluded Agents Appreciation Awards, that provides comprehensive and up-to-date information on assorted topics that are essential to travel agents. A brainchild of the SriLankan Airlines’ Sri Lanka Sales team, the Travel Agents Portal was founded upon the significance that the airline places on travel agencies and their contribution to the travel and tourism trade.

The Sri Lanka Sales team worked together with the airline’s Information Technology team to make their concept a reality. The portal is an end-to-end solution designed and developed entirely in-house and optimized for user experience and mobile platforms. The pandemic accentuated the dynamicity of the travel industry, and the need to stay on top of ever-changing information including regulations issued by multiple local and international authorities. Therefore, the Travel Agents Portal aims to present information from numerous sources on a single platform under five easily accessible sections: Promotions; Circulars; COVID-19 Restrictions; Policies & Procedures; and Product.

“Communication is key to managing any crisis. The time we invested in communicating with our trade partners on an hourly basis during the pandemic about travel restrictions and related queries paid off immensely, and made us appreciate the need for a comprehensive information system. The Travel Agents Portal would also help increase the efficacy of our team,” commented, Jayantha Abeysinghe, Regional Manager Sri Lanka & Indian Ocean of SriLankan Airlines, who provided leadership to the project.
Top executives of renowned travel agencies welcomed the unveiling of the Travel Agents Portal at SriLankan’s last Agents Appreciation Awards, which honoured the airline’s top ten agents of the past year. Managing Director of Classic Travels, Sabry Bahaudeen, stated, “This is a very important and timely initiative implemented by the national carrier and it will help the industry immensely.”

The Chairman of Traveller Global, Rizmi Reyal, concurred, adding, “We are happy to see this product, which will solve many issues at various customer touchpoints and will ensure a smooth travel passage to passengers.”

“SriLankan Airlines celebrated its longstanding partner travel agents by launching a Travel Agents Portal on the same day that they were recognized and awarded for their excellent work in the past year. The Travel Agents Portal would transform the way in which information is shared and consumed within our industry. Having access to complete information on demand is a must today, and the portal will enable travel agents to perform their duties more effectively, and in turn optimize the service for our passengers,” said Richard Nuttall, Chief Executive Officer of SriLankan Airlines.

The Agents Appreciation Awards, where the launch of the portal took place, awarded Classic Travels with the Diamond Award; 2nd Chance Travels with the Platinum Award; Metro Travels with the Gold Award; Crazy Jets with the Silver Award; and The Traveler Global with the Blue Award. The awards were presented by the Chief Executive Officer; Head of Worldwide Sales & Distribution; and Regional Manager Sri Lanka & Indian Ocean of SriLankan Airlines.