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Wednesday, December 30, 2009 Sri Lanka's first online marketing conference a success With over a 100 delegates in attendance, Sri Lanka's first Online Marketing Conference held at Cinnamon Grand, Colombo saw the likes of key decision makers from the travel and hospitality industry. Hosted by eMarketingEye (www.emarketingeye.com), the event was a resounding success with guest speakers from Google and the Preferred Hotel Group. The event was endorsed by the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority, with electronic media sponsorship courtesy of ART TV. A first of its kind, Optimising é Future 2009 - Online Marketing Conference was hosted by eMarketingEye to offer the benefit of their experience to a Sri Lankan audience. As an award winning Online Marketing Agency, eMarketingEye offers a host of services from search marketing to website development. Offering services to over 300 hotels and travel companies, both local and international, eMarketingEye has guided some of the world's leading names in travel and hospitality. Starting off the event CEO of eMarketingEye Rajitha Dahanayake took the stage to discuss the importance of an effective website, introduced consumer buying cycles for the travel and hospitality industry, and how to use the internet to attract and target these buyers through each stage. He was followed by Online Sales and Operations Manager Google João Cabral, who shared statistics on the potential of the online advertising market for Sri Lanka and talked about the internet as a proven advertising medium today. He explained that many travel-related businesses currently use Google's AdWords advertising platform to successfully leverage their online presence, reach out to potential customers worldwide and get a great ROI on their online advertising spend. He also went on to say: "There has been unprecedented growth in search terms such as 'Sri Lanka hotels' and 'Sri Lanka flights' since May 2009," confirming the increase in interest on post-war Sri Lanka. Regional Director, India - Preferred Hotel Group Saurabh Rai Bhatnagar followed by emphasising the importance of technology adaptation and internet marketing for hotels and discussed case study examples from the Preferred Hotel Group. Concluding the round of talks was Naveen Marasinghe from eMarketingEye, a specialist in social media optimisation, who discussed the importance of using such media platforms as Twitter, Facebook and blogs to listen and engage with potential and existing consumers. Optimising é Future came to a close with a panel discussion with additional speakers Erika Oktora, an AdWords Accounts Strategist from Google and Niranka T. Perera, Head of Project Management from eMarketingEye joining the forum. Questions and discussions were held on the advantages of using the internet as a distribution channel, Sri Lanka internet penetration statistics, the possibility of tracking online campaign performance and social media strategies amongst others. Following the conference Google, Preferred Hotel Group and eMarketingEye teams were available for one-on-one meetings and discussions with conference attendees, offering further insight on the topics discussed at the event. Commenting on the conference Dahanayake stated: "Optimising é Future, was the first phase of online marketing conferences that we plan to have both here and abroad. Sri Lanka will see more specialised conferences. In an ever-changing industry, it is a must to keep up with the latest trends and part of our scope involves knowing when and where this impacts our clients."
