The Tourism Leaders’ Summit and International Tourism research Conference 2018 Sri Lanka was held on October 5 at BMICH as part of the World Tourism day. This year the theme was Integration of Global Value Chains for Sustainable Tourism Development Inclusiveness, Competition and Innovation. Minister of Tourism Development and Christian Affairs John Amarathunga and Minister of Higher Education and Cultural Affairs Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe were present.
Welcoming the gathering Dr. D. A. C Suranga Silva, Founder and Coordinator of Master in Tourism Economics and Hotel Management, University of Colombo said that this event is organized as an assignment for the Masters and Post Graduate students. This year it has been organized for the 5th consecutive time.
“No one really lives in isolation” said Audrey Kitagawa, Chair-Elect of the Parliament of the World’s Religions and Trustee. She further said the Parliament of the Worlds’ Religions is the Worlds’ largest and the worlds’ oldest interfering committee. Their mission is to cultivate harmony among religious communities in the world. It is through cooperation that we could spread peace and harmony. This year the Parliament of Worlds’ Religions is going to be held from November 1 to 7 in Toronto, Canada.
Akvile Pareigyte, Founder Volt Lab-Regional Google Trainer said that every journey begins online. The average mobile speed in travel industry is 22 seconds. Hence one should invest a speedy mobile app to fulfill customer preferences. There has also been 80% increase in mobile searches for the best over the past 2 years. Sri Lanka is ranked among the top 10 when it comes to safari destinations. Moreover Colombo, Kandy and Galle ranked first when it comes to best hotel providers. She also stated that most of the travel websites in Sri Lanka are made using flash which fails to load in search engines, hence it should be avoided.
Addressing the gathering Minister Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe said that Tourism is one main rapidly growing economic factor of the country. The present schemes even enable youth and women to take part in this industry. Even though the ethnic conflict had a massive impact, after 2009 a rapid development has been witnessed rapid development has been witnessed. “We have a strong cultural heritage both tangible and intangible irrespective of the country’s’ size,” the minister said. He also stated that the government has a variety of future plans for the upliftment of tourism.
Minister John Amarathunga emphasized the fact that their major target is to increase the number of tourists visiting the island up to 4 million by 2020. “The advertising of Sri Lankan Tourism is negligible when compared to other countries. But we are taking steps to increase it,” the minister said. They intend to open up all the domestic airports so as to make travelling convenient for the tourists. Steps have been undertaken to develop the railway further.
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