The recovery of Sri Lankan Tourism is now well intensified by the promotional activities undertaken by the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau, as well as due to travel incentive packages being announced by the industry itself.
In addition to this, Sri Lankan government has taken all the necessary measures to ensure the security of tourists as well as the hotels across the country, following the tragic Easter Sunday incident, John Amaratunga, Minister of Tourism Development, Wildlife and Christian Religious Affairs told the inaugural session of the 9th edition of ‘Sancharaka Udawa’.
The premier Tourism and Travel Exhibition is organized by Sri Lanka Association of Inbound Tour Operators (SLAITO) in collaboration with the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau (SLTPB) at the BMICH last week.
Furthermore, Sri Lanka Tourism had upped its tourist arrivals target to three million by end of this year. However, the Minister said the country may not be able to achieve the desired arrival targets owing to implications of the Easter incident.
“Sometimes, we may not achieve the 3 million arrivals target by end of this year, but I have a feeling that we might be able to come closer to that target.” he noted.
In addition to this, the Minister said that the country has set an ambitious target of achieving the US $ 5 billion income from the tourism industry by end of this year.However, he said that the industry might not be able to achieve the desired revenue target this year too, owing to the impacts of the Easter incident. However, Minister Amaratunga expressed hope that Sri Lanka will witness increased visitor numbers by end of July, this year.
The ‘Sancharaka Udawa’ event which was held from June 21-22 was an ideal platform for small and medium service providers in the industry to create much needed business links with tour operators and to enter the wider spectrum of the tourism industry.
Stalls for tourism related Government departments such as the Department of Wildlife Conservation, Tourist Police and other such organizations had also been provided free-of-charge to build good rapport between these organizations and the industry.
In addition, several universities such as Colombo, Uvawellassa, Kelaniya, Sabaragamuwa and Rajarata, had also been provided stalls free-of-charge to encourage students studying tourism and give them an opportunity to interact with trade officials.
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