Mosvold Sixes returns to Colombo on October 4, bringing 20 destination management companies together for a day of softball cricket, networking and industry engagement ahead of Sri Lanka’s busiest tourism months.
Mosvold Sixes brings 20 travel companies together for cricket, networking and community giving
The second edition of the tournament will be held at the Colombo Malay Cricket Club, with Mosvold Sri Lanka, whose hospitality portfolio includes Mosvold Villa Ahangama and Sundara by Mosvold Balapitiya, staging the event in partnership with the Mosvold Martinus Foundation.
The six-a-side softball cricket tournament is designed to bring together companies from across Sri Lanka’s travel trade in an informal setting ahead of the industry’s peak operating period. Play is scheduled to run from 8:30 a.m. until 10:00 p.m., with food and beer available throughout the day before the programme moves into an evening of live music and an after-party for players and guests.
The tournament was launched last year as a way of creating a shared platform for travel agents, destination management companies, suppliers and other industry partners. Rather than being structured solely as a sporting competition, the event combines cricket with relationship building, allowing participants to reconnect before the tourism season gathers momentum.
For Mosvold Sri Lanka, the longer-term ambition is to expand the tournament beyond the domestic travel community and eventually welcome foreign travel agents. The objective is to give international partners an opportunity to engage directly with Sri Lanka’s travel trade while experiencing the informal culture and hospitality that underpin relationships within the industry.
This year’s competition will feature 20 destination management companies: Tangerine Tours, Sri Lanka Tailormade, Olanka Travels, Antiquity Sri Lanka, Travel Trends Leisure, House of Travels & Tourism, NKAR Travels & Tours, Jetwing Travels, Walkers Tours, Connaissance de Ceylan, Delux Holidays, Ceylon Roots, Spiceland Holidays, Infinity Vacations, Tropiculture, Serene Travels, Authenticities, Red Apple Travel & Holidays Lanka, DTH Travel Lanka and Ceylon Tours.
The breadth of participation reflects the role of destination management companies in Sri Lanka’s tourism ecosystem. These businesses work closely with overseas travel partners and local suppliers to organise experiences, accommodation, transportation and other services for international visitors, making professional relationships across the sector particularly important ahead of the peak season.
The tournament’s competitive element will be complemented by a wider social purpose. The winning team will receive the Mosvold Martinus Foundation Challenge Trophy, with the trophy’s name deliberately connecting the sporting event to the foundation’s community-focused work.
The Mosvold Martinus Foundation works across areas including education, women’s empowerment and community upliftment. Linking the foundation to the tournament positions the event as more than an industry gathering, with its organisers seeking to connect business relationships and sporting participation with a broader commitment to community development.
Nilanka Martinus, Co-Founder and Managing Director of Mosvold Sri Lanka, said the tournament reflects the company’s preference for opening the season collectively, bringing the travel trade together in one location to compete, socialise and strengthen relationships. He also highlighted the connection between the event and the foundation’s work in education, women’s empowerment and community development.
The format also provides an opportunity for companies that regularly compete for business within the travel sector to interact in a more informal environment. Cricket becomes the central activity, but the broader programme creates space for conversations and connections that can continue beyond the tournament.
For Sri Lanka’s tourism industry, such engagement comes as companies prepare for another demanding operating period. Tourism businesses depend heavily on coordination between hotels, destination management companies, travel agencies, transport providers and overseas partners. Events that bring these groups together can provide an informal setting for maintaining those professional networks.
The organisers also see potential for the Mosvold Sixes to become increasingly international in character. Bringing foreign travel partners into the tournament would extend the event’s networking dimension while offering overseas stakeholders a more direct connection with Sri Lanka’s local travel community.
Connaissance de Ceylan will enter this year’s tournament as the defending champion after winning the inaugural edition. Its return adds a competitive storyline to the second edition, as the participating teams look to challenge the previous winners for the Mosvold Martinus Foundation Challenge Trophy.
With cricket scheduled throughout the day before an evening of entertainment, the event is positioned as both a sporting fixture and a season-opening gathering for the travel trade. For Mosvold Sri Lanka, the tournament provides a platform to bring industry partners together while reinforcing the company’s connection with community-focused initiatives.
As the October 4 event approaches, the second edition of the tournament is expected to bring together representatives from across Sri Lanka’s destination management sector for a combination of competition, networking and entertainment. The longer-term plan to involve international travel partners could also give the event a broader role within the country’s tourism calendar in future editions.