The ever-growing digital content creation brand, Sheneller, recently concluded their third iteration of ‘This Is Sri Lanka’, a video series popular for showcasing hidden destinations, unique experiences, and the path less travelled. Season Three of ‘This Is Sri Lanka’ showcased travel enthusiasts Shehaan Thahir and Shenelle Rodrigo cycling the circumference of Sri Lanka amidst the island’s ongoing socio-economic crisis.
The duo, who was inspired by Sri Lanka’s resilience despite the lack of fuel in the country, used e-bikes to travel, shoot, edit, and publish content over a total of 43 days on the road, sharing with the world how beautiful and safe Sri Lanka is for tourists. Using the latest local launch of Instagram Reels to their advantage, Team Sheneller published short-form vertical videos on their social media in real-time throughout the campaign. In terms of long-form content, four episodes of the fifteen-episode series have already been published on their YouTube channel, with several more vibrant videos to be published on a weekly basis until November.
Two million views
So far, the series has garnered a total of two million views across Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube, and is fast gaining in popularity due to its high shareability.
The YouTube series will continue with several exciting episodes, showcasing tourist destinations around the island, lesser-known stories of Sri Lanka’s export industries, and NGOs through which expats can support Sri Lanka through this time. Having partnered with Child Fund Sri Lanka, Adra Sri Lanka, and UNDP Sri Lanka for the campaign, Team Sheneller was able to create awareness of community development initiatives, while showcasing the grassroots of the country.
The duo shared their thoughts at its conclusion, “The trip was like nothing we ever expected it to be. Even during the toughest of times, we encountered the warmest and most hospitable people all around the island. While we did see signs of hardship, we were so encouraged to see how persevering and innovative the younger generations of Sri Lankans are, even in the most unlikely of places. There’s so much more that needs to be done in terms of content creation, to communicate the stories of Sri Lanka to the world. We hope this campaign raises awareness on the wonders of our country and encourages tourists to invest in the smaller stakeholders of the hospitality industry as well.”
The ‘This Is Sri Lanka’ official trailer was launched on the 25th of September as the duo entered Colombo completing 1,535 km cycled over 43 days.