The Expolanka Leisure Cluster secured seven awards at the National ICT Awards – NBQSA 2026, including two Gold, one Silver, two Bronze and two Merit Awards, marking a significant achievement for the cluster and recognising its continued investment in technology, innovation and digital solutions across its travel and visa businesses.
Leading the recognition, Classic Travel secured six awards for Travel Insight, Competitor IQ, Classic Direct and SocialHive, with the solutions recognised across categories including In-House Innovation, Tourism & Hospitality, Marketing Solutions, and Digital Marketing / Advertising. Expo Visa Services (EVS) added to the cluster’s success, with EZ Visa by EVS receiving a Merit Award under Consumer – Tourism & Hospitality.
The seven awards recognise innovation across a diverse range of solutions developed to address different areas of the travel and visa experience. From travel intelligence and competitor insights to B2B travel platforms, marketing technology and digital visa solutions, the recognised initiatives reflect the cluster’s broader approach to using technology to strengthen both customer-facing services and internal capabilities.
Speaking on the role of technology in this journey, Ashani Jayawikrama, Manager – IT at Expolanka Leisure Cluster, said:
“Technology continues to evolve at an extraordinary pace, and with it, customer expectations and the way businesses operate are constantly changing. This makes continuous innovation essential. Our focus is not simply on introducing new technology, but on understanding where it can genuinely improve a process, strengthen our service standards and create a better experience for our customers. These awards are encouraging recognition of that journey, while also motivating us to continue exploring how technology can make our services smarter, simpler and more effective.”
The recognition also reflects an ongoing focus within the Expolanka Leisure Cluster on developing technology around genuine business and customer needs. Rather than treating digital transformation as a standalone initiative, technology continues to be integrated into different areas of the business to improve accessibility, efficiency, intelligence and the overall customer experience.
The National ICT Awards – NBQSA is one of Sri Lanka’s established platforms for recognising ICT products and innovation, providing organisations with an opportunity to benchmark locally developed technology solutions against industry standards. Conducted by the Sri Lankan section of BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT, the competition has been held in Sri Lanka since 1998.
The achievement builds on the Expolanka Leisure Cluster’s continued focus on digital transformation and demonstrates how technology is increasingly being embedded across its businesses to solve practical challenges and improve service delivery. The seven wins also recognise the teams behind these solutions, whose combined expertise across travel, technology, marketing and customer service continues to translate ideas into meaningful applications.