President Anura Kumara Dissanayake met tourism industry associations at the Presidential Secretariat on Wednesday to discuss how to reach US$ 10 billion in annual tourism revenue and five million tourist arrivals by 2030.
The meeting focused on the steps needed to promote and expand the sector. Particular attention went to improving domestic air travel to Trincomalee, Batticaloa, Sigiriya and Jaffna.
On international connectivity, the meeting was told that 10 new international airlines have started flights to Sri Lanka this year. Participants discussed measures to raise the number of airlines operating in the country to 50.
The meeting also reviewed the progress of global promotional campaigns run to attract visitors to Sri Lanka.
Two regulatory proposals were discussed. One would bring all tourist hotels and accommodation providers under the relevant legal framework by requiring mandatory registration with the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA). The other would introduce laws and regulations to govern businesses run by foreign nationals in Sri Lanka in breach of the prescribed legal procedures.
The talks also covered using popular national parks to support the industry while introducing laws and regulations to protect forest resources.
Minister of Labour and Deputy Minister of Finance and Planning Dr Anil Jayantha Fernando, Secretary to the President Dr Nandika Sanath Kumanayake and Senior Additional Secretary to the President Roshan Gamage attended. Industry representatives included Sri Lanka Hotels Association President Ashoka Hettigoda, Resorts Association Vice President Eksath Wijeratne, Deputy President (General) Dimitri Coorey, Senior Management Committee member Chamin Wickramasinghe, Chief Executive Officer Priyantha Fernando and Sri Lanka Inbound Tour Operators Association President Bobby Jordan Hansen. Members of the task force set up to promote the tourism sector and representatives of other industry associations also took part.
Background
Sri Lanka’s record for tourist arrivals in a single year remains the roughly 2.3 million visitors recorded in 2018, before the Easter Sunday attacks of 2019, the Covid-19 pandemic and the economic crisis disrupted the industry.
The SLTDA is the state body that regulates the sector and keeps the register of tourist establishments. A five million target would be more than double that earlier record.
What it means
For travellers, the discussions point to more airlines and better domestic air links to Trincomalee, Batticaloa, Sigiriya and Jaffna, although no dates or routes were announced.
For hotels and guesthouses, mandatory SLTDA registration was discussed but no decision was announced, so the requirements and timelines remain to be set out.
