Sri Lanka ranked among top 5 fastest tourism growing markets by GlobalData

COLOMBO, July 30 (Xinhua) -- Sri Lanka has been ranked as the fourth fastest growing tourism market in the world by GlobalData, a London-based digital analysis company, the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority said in a statement Monday. 

GlobalData's Tourism Potential Index provides a ranking of 60 major developed and emerging markets around the world to assess potential growth opportunities in the tourism sector. 

Iceland, Japan, Hungary, Sri Lanka and Chile have been listed as the top five fastest growing tourism markets in the world for the period between 2017 and 2021, the GlobalData index showed. 

The list is compiled using a ranking based on forecast average annual growth in international arrivals, and the forecasts are based on factors such as capital investment, GDP and disposable income in main source markets. 

Sri Lanka, which came the fourth on the list, has obtained a score of 52.8 while achieving a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 8.7 percent. 

The score of Iceland, which topped the list, stands at 39.1 with a CAGR of 11.7 percent.

GlobalData has also assigned star ratings to each of the 60 nations surveyed, ranking them in terms of tourism potential from very low to very high. 

The star rating is based on four elements of potential: significance, competitiveness, attractiveness and convenience to give an overall percentage score out of 100. 

No country achieved a five-star rating this year, an accolade awarded to Singapore and Switzerland last year, which were both said to have "very high potential" with few barriers to expansion or demand. 

Sri Lanka is the only four-star rated country in the top 10. 

GlobalData says Sri Lanka is "expected to experience fast growth in the future".

It also said Sri Lanka is "investment-friendly and has improved its road and air infrastructure significantly". 

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Strict enforcement needed to protect Sri Lanka tourism hotspots: expert

ECONOMYNEXT – Strict enforcement of rules and effective management is needed to protect Sri Lankan tourism hotspots like national parks and archaeological sites from over-visitation, an Australian expert said. 

"Over tourism is a somewhat awkward term, and describes the situation in which a particular destination exceeds its carrying capacity, either in physical or social terms,” said Andrew Fairley, former deputy chairman of Tourism Australia, the Australian tourism promotion outfit. 

He drew on his experience in maintaining the sustainability of potentially fragile tourism destinations at a public address by organised by the Australian High Commission and Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority and Australia’s private sector development programme Market Development Facility. 

Over tourism is a familiar theme in Sri Lanka, with popular hotspots like Yala National Park and Sigiriya facing challenges related to overcrowding and the consequent deterioration of the natural asset, a statement said. 

“It results in a deterioration of the tourism experience for both visitors and locals, and if it continued unchecked, could cause serious brand damage,” it quoted Fairley as saying. 

Fairley highlighted the need for an assessment, of carrying capacity, access and behaviours, as well strict enforcement of boundaries in this regard through effective tourism management. 

Establishing “One Voice” in tourism would further aid this goal and prevent the potential negative impacts on Sri Lanka’s tourism assets. 

Fairley also said research, consolidation and sustainability is essential for tourism. 

Core-market analysis, effective marketing and communication, and the importance of optimising tourist visitation were some of the key areas Fairley touched on in his talk on “Staying ahead in global tourism marketing: How core-market research and outreach can deliver a sustainable advantage”. 

Fairley recently worked with the government of Sri Lanka and tourism authorities on the Tourism Strategic Plan 2017-2020 (TSP), released last year. 

Fairley explored elements from the TSP, drawing parallels with Tourism Australia’s strategic journey, which began with consolidation. 

“Underpinning the success of any system reform is the implementation of an efficient and effective governance model,” said Fairley, referring to how Australian tourism was segmented into four separate bodies until 2003, when the government consolidated them and establish Tourism Australia – creating “One Voice”. 

The structural and governance renovation was successful in marketing ‘Brand Australia’ through proactive government involvement that concurrently enabled and enlivened the private sector.

Fairley also spoke of the importance of timely and accurate core-market data to travel industry decision-making. 

In the case of Australia, Fairley highlighted three of Australia’s biggest inbound tourism markets – the UK, China and India, highly relevant to Sri Lanka as well. 

For these, Tourism Australia carried out a detailed analysis of demand and supply. The analysis of drivers led to the creation of Australia’s “experience pillars”, which highlight Australia’s strongest consumer assets. 

“There are many niche opportunities [in Sri Lanka] as well which are comprehensively identified in your tourism strategy,” Fairley said. 

“These include health and well-being, ecotourism, and the MICE market. The challenge is to determine which have priority. Success requires you to focus on a few core strategies and do them well.” 

Converting research findings into actual implementation involves marketing and communication outreach. 

This includes addressing the optimal distribution model and acknowledging the importance of agents, wholesalers and aggregators within the process. 

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Sri Lanka looks to ease tourist visa requirements to boost tourism

COLOMBO, July 21 (Xinhua) -- Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said his government is looking at easing the air traffic system including Sri Lanka visas for tourists to boost the island's tourism industry, local media reported Saturday.

Speaking at the Hotel Show Colombo 2018 in the capital of Colombo, Wickremesinghe said that easing visa requirements for tourists was an important step for the island's rapidly developing tourism as the basic requirements of entry into the country must be streamlined.

Wickremesinghe stressed the importance of increasing the number of tourists visiting the country, thereby bringing in more revenue and improving the people's income.

"For us, in the short term, tourism is one of the job creators," the prime minister said. "It means a future for Sri Lankan employment. It means a future for Sri Lankan youth," he added.

Sri Lanka's tourism industry, which was once heavily scarred by a 30-year civil conflict, has become one of the leading industries after the island was dubbed as one of the world's greatest tourist hot spots by international publications.

Tourist arrivals have recorded a growth of 15.3 percent during the first half of 2018 compared to the same period last year, statistics from the Tourism Ministry showed.

India, China and Britain have remained the largest growing markets.

Sri Lankan Tourism Minister John Amaratunga said recently that the government was targeting a revenue of 4.4 billion U.S. dollars through tourism this year.

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Sri Lanka exports up 9.8-pct, tourism grows 6.2-pct in May

ECONOMYNEXT - Sri Lanka's merchandise exports rose 9.8 percent from a year earlier to 841 million dollars in May and tourism grew 6.2 percent to 240 million dollars, while remittances fell 3.4 percent to 580 million dollars, the central bank said.

The main merchandise and services exports totaled 1.744 billion US dollars.

Merchandise imports rose 7.7 percent to 1,857 million US dollars.

The rest of the trade deficit (current account deficit) is usually driven by financial inflows such as net foreign borrowings which are spent by government in the domestic economy and foreign direct investment, which are used to construct factory buildings or machinery.

Money printing by the central bank will also drive credit and imports though the banking system, but unlike dollar inflows, the new money created will create an overall balance of payments deficit and put pressure on the rupee peg with the dollar, as there are no matching inflows to back the spending.

Sri Lanka's private citizens are usually net savers and the trade deficit is mostly driven by borrowings taken and spent by the government.

Any remittances which are saved in foreign currency deposits will not generate a trade deficit until a bank buys Sri Lanka Development Bond to finance the budget deficit or gives a dollar loan to a qualified local borrower.

Industrial exports rose 15.5 percent to 709.7 million US dollars, with apparel and textiles up 10.9 percent to 398.3 million US dollars.

Rubber products rose 2.4 percent to 68.6 million US dollars and petroleum products rose 66.8 percent to 46.1 million US dollars and gems and jewelry rose 3.3 percent to 23.1 percent.

Chemical products rose 28.1 percent to 14.3 percent and base metals rose 56.1 percent to 14.5 million US dollars.

Agricultural exports fell 5.9 percent to 209.6 million US dollars with tea falling 7.9 percent to 121.2 million US dollars.

Coconut exports fell 13.6 percent to 24.2 million US dollars, minor agricultural products fell 19 percent to 10.5 million US dollars.

Seafood exports rose 19.9 percent to 21.2 million US dollars.

Consumer goods imports rose 8.1 percent to 414.5 million US dollars, vehicles up 29.7 percent to 119.6 million US dollars and foods and beverages down 21.1 percent to 128.6 million US dollars.

Sri Lanka raised fuel prices in May which may cause non-oil imports to moderate in the coming months as losses financed by credit at Ceylon Petroleum Corporation falls.

Intermediate goods rose 20.6 percent to 1,042.7 million US dollars with fuel imports rising 61.8 percent to 348.9 million US dollars.

Legal gold imports fell to 0.1 million dollars from 35.8 million US dollars. Investment goods fell 8.8 percent to 398.2 million US dollars.

In the five months to May, Merchandise exports rose 6.7 percent to 4,707 million US dollars, imports rose 11.8 percent to 9,622 million US dollars and the trade deficit grew 17 percent to 4,914 million US dollars. (Colombo/July21/2018)

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Of elephants and tourists: Sustainable wildlife tourism in Sri Lanka

Srilal Miththapala, eTN Sri Lanka ambassador, delivered a talk on “Sri Lanka Tourism & Sustainability with special emphasis on Elephants” at the Sri Lankan Embassy in Canberra recently.

The audience consisting of travel writers, tourism industry representatives, as well as wildlife and elephant enthusiasts enjoyed the informative and insightful presentation with video clips of elephants in Sri Lanka. 

This is the second talk given by Srilal Miththapala at the High Commission and the third in the series of tourism promotional events hosted by the High Commission to provide the tourism industry, travel writers, and wildlife experts in Canberra an opportunity to see a glimpse of what Sri Lanka has to offer in terms of wildlife and sustainable tourism. 

After a brief overview of Sri Lanka’s topography and tourism factors, Miththapala focused on the Sri Lankan elephant which is fast becoming an icon for Sri Lanka tourism. He described the cultural and religious importance of this special animal in the country as well as its demographics, behavior, and social life. He also entertained the audience with stories of personal encounters with these gentle giants revered in the island nation, along with images and videos. 

High Commissioner Somasundaram Skandakumar, in introducing the speaker, highlighted his vast experience in the hospitality industry and in developing sustainable tourism practices in Sri Lanka.

A very lively Q and A session followed with many questions from travel writers and journalists in the audience. 

The audience was able to interact with the speaker at the end while savoring Sri Lankan tea and delicacies. 

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Sri Lanka is going all out to woo Indian tourists

Sri Lanka has seen a record number of Indian tourists visit the island nation. Last year, it clocked in 3.84 lakh Indian travellers. This year, they are looking to lure even more visitors. This is what tourists can expect.

Sri Lanka is expecting a healthy growth in the number of Indian tourists arrivals this year, as the island nation is out to woo travellers even from smaller cities. Sri Lanka has seen a substantial growth in tourist arrivals from India last year, with over 3.84 lakh travellers. Currently, India is the number one country in terms of tourist arrivals, followed by China, UK and Germany. Some of the most popular destinations in Sri Lanka include Kandy, Colombo and Bentota.

“However, this year we are targeting 4.50 lakh tourists from India,” said Viranga Bandara, Assistant Director-Marketing, Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau. “We mainly get tourists from the metros like Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, and Chennai... those are the main tourism-generating hubs for Sri Lanka tourism. But we are also targeting smaller cities,” he said.

Upekkha Samaratunga, Minister (Commercial), Sri Lanka High Commission in New Delhi, said that according to Sri Lanka tourism statistics, India ranks number one in terms of inward traffic to the island nation. “We look forward to travellers from India throughout the year, irrespective of the season. Most Indians like to travel short distances on a competitive budget. In that scenario, Sri Lanka has become popular. However, we are also targeting the high-end tourists from various parts of India, including Chandigarh and neighbouring towns like Ludhiana,” said Samaratunga.

About Sri Lankan food, she said that there is a lot of similarity in their cuisine and what is found in parts of south India. “We use a lot of coconut in our preparations, like it is used in south India. Sri Lankan cinnamon, pepper and other products are also quite popular among Indians. Through tourism, we can expand our trade relations, as India is our key trading partner,” she further said.

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Survey finds Indian, Western tourists in Sri Lanka satisfied with hotel stays

ECONOMYNEXT- Most Indian and Western tourists visiting Sri Lanka are satisfied with their stays in hotels, according to the latest airport survey done by the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority.

Of the over 1,000 tourists who answered questions in the survey, 63 percent had stayed in hotels. Another 16 percent stayed in guest houses, and 8 percent stayed in boutique hotels.

The highest number of respondents in the survey were from India, Germany, UK, Australia and Russia, aged between 20-29 and were male.

Around 60 percent of the tourists thought that the quality of rooms in Sri Lanka were excellent or very good, and only 9 percent of them had rated the rooms poor.

Fifty-six percent of the tourists rated the quality of food highly, while 11 percent thought the opposite. There was a nearly identical split in opinion over the quality of service.

The survey was done through two touch screens at self-service kiosks at the Katunayake Airport. (COLOMBO, July 12, 2018)

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China offers more facilities to draw Sri Lankan tourists

China is offering more facilities to draw Sri Lankan tourists, China’s state owned Xinhua News Agency reported on Sunday.

Chief of Consular Department of Chinese Embassy in Sri Lanka, Wang Keqi briefed local travel agents on the different visa procedures in order to facilitate more tourists to visit China.

According to statistics available at the Chinese Tourism Academy, over 60,000 Sri Lankans visited China in 2016.

A forum was held in Colombo on Saturday to introduce to Sri Lankan travelers tourism services and attractive destinations in China.

In a forum conducted for Sri Lanka’s leading travel agents, organized jointly by China’s national air carrier Air China and the Travel Agents Association of Sri Lanka, Air China said it hoped to provide better services for its travelers between Colombo and Chinese cities in order to increase the number of Sri Lankan tourists.

Some of these facilities include enhanced leg space in all its air buses, more localized Sri Lankan meals and luxurious facilities for its business class travelers.

Emily Liu, General Manager of Air China, Colombo Office, addressing the forum said that since Air China entered the Sri Lankan market three years ago, traffic between Colombo and Chinese cities had increased due to the airline’s promotions and services.

However she said many parts of China still remained unexplored for Sri Lankan tourists and they hoped to increase the numbers.

“We hope to introduce Sri Lankan travel agents to other destinations other than Beijing and Shanghai so that they can promote it among Sri Lankan tourists.

China is today one of the largest economies in the world, which has a rich heritage and a history dating back to many centuries. With its modernized culture in recent years, it has a lot to offer for Sri Lankan tourists and traders,” Liu said. (Colombo Gazette)

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Targeting more Indian tourist footfalls

Sri Lanka is aiming for a tourism revenue of $4 billion this year, which would be a record high for the sector. To achieve that, the island’s tourism department will chiefly target visitors from India, from where it gets the highest number of visitors. Authorities point to an uptick in young travellers from India coming to Sri Lanka on weekend trips. They arrive on Friday night and return on Sunday, often squeezing in a quick drive to beach towns such as Galle and Bentota along the southern coast.

With the hope of getting Indian tourists to prolong their stay, and to draw more tourists from other key markets such as China, the United Kingdom, Germany and France, Sri Lanka’s Tourism Development Authority is looking to popularise new attractions. According to its chairman Kavan Ratnayaka, these places will also be an alternative to the currently popular destinations that often get overcrowded — especially Yala National Park in the south and the ancient rock fortress of Sigiriya in the Central Province. “We are exploring if the ancient town of Polonnaruwa can be presented as an alternative to Sigiriya, and other national parks like Minneriya and Kaudulla as alternatives to Yala,” he told The Hindu. 

Additionally, tourism authorities are giving shape to the ‘Ramayana trail’, which will consist of sites that many believe have links to the epic. While private tour operators already offer packages to some of these sites, the Tourism Development Authority is yet to formalise the trail. New Delhi, especially after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government took over in 2014, has been reportedly keen on the initiative. Simultaneously, within Sri Lanka, there is a resurgent interest in Ravana that offers potential for developing associated sites, officials said.

Making Colombo more happening

 

The trail is only one of the many attractions on the scenic island, where the beaches, hills and historic sites compete for attention. Many Indians are also patrons of the 24-hour casinos in Colombo. In fact, some of them travel frequently, often in groups, and spend the weekend chasing fortunes. The Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority is also focussing on “making Colombo more happening” with greater retail and entertainment options, authorities said. While its outreach is global, there is a special focus on India — for its proximity and traditional business links — through a targeted campaign online. 

Since the end of the civil war in 2009, Sri Lanka has been witnessing a steady increase in tourist arrivals, but there has been a considerable surge in the last couple of years. From 4.47 lakh in 2009, the number of tourists increased to 10 lakh in 2012. By 2016, the figure had doubled to 20 lakh, according to official data. This year, until May, over 10 lakh tourists visited the island. Of those, about 1.7 lakh visitors, almost a fifth of the total arrivals, were from India. China came second in terms of the number of tourists, with 1.16 lakh arrivals. 

Tourism is, at present, Sri Lanka’s third-biggest source of foreign exchange, after tea and textiles. Authorities want to push it to the top slot. Keeping this objective in mind, they have strengthened security measures. Earlier this year, following a series of incidents involving sexual abuse and violence targeting foreign tourists, authorities said they would set up police posts and patrols at popular resorts. “We have zero tolerance to any threat to the safety of tourists. Sri Lanka should be absolutely safe for the solo woman traveller. That is the standard we are working towards,” said Mr. Ratnayaka. 

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Sri Lanka tourism industry in drive to fill 100,000 worker shortfall

ECONOMYNEXT- Sri Lanka’s leisure industry says it will carry out a five year program to boost the output of skilled trainees and make the sector attractive to school leavers and females as a worker shortfall worsens amid a tourism boom. 

Sri Lanka Tourism and Hospitality Workforce Competitiveness Roadmap 2018-2023, devised by a skills development committee made up of key leisure sector companies said there is an annual shortfall of up to 20,000 workers. 

“[W]e need more and better trained people entering the industry,” Malik Fernando, from Sri Lanka’s Dilmah group, who chairs the Private Sector Tourism Skills Committee, which devised the 5-year plan. 

“We need 100,000. The Tourist Board thinks it’s closer to 90,000, but that doesn’t include the informal sector.” 

According to the roadmap, only 10,000 trainees come out of hotel schools in the country annually.

But about 25,000 to 30,000 are needed each year to staff new hotels and related businesses and also to fill positions falling vacant as older workers retire and others migrate to greener pastures.

Sri Lanka has a falling rupee, making foreign jobs in countries with sounder central banks which provide stronger currencies such as the Maldives and the Middle East, more attractive. 

“We cannot standby and watch anymore. Our complacency will kill the industry,” Fernando said.

“We hope others will join us, but we don’t intend to wait.” 

The skills committee which includes tourism player like Jetwing, John Keells, Dilmah, and Shangri-La is backed by the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA), the Ceylon Hotel School, the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce, the Technical and Vocational Education Commission and the US Agency for International Development. 

Sri Lanka’s tourism sector is growing rapidly, with the tourism authority estimating that 20,720 rooms will be added to Sri Lanka’s inventory by 2020. 

By end 2017, 35,986 rooms were officially registered with the tourism authority in graded hotels and supplementary units such as guest houses. There are also hundreds of unregistered hotels and guest houses 

A quarter of the tourists visiting the country stayed at unregistered properties, the SLTDA said.

The 5-year plan developed by the skills committee, will revamp curricula in hotel schools and start more three and six month courses to churn out workers faster. 

Additional modules can then be taken while working creating an environment of flexible carreer development and training. 

A train-the-trainers programme on the new curricula will train 200 instructors in vocational training institutes. 

A 4-6 week internship program will be introduced. 

Fernando said that the plan will also increase training on niche areas such as naturalists and wellness professionals, who are increasingly in demand. 

Secondary school teachers will also be trained to provide tourism and hospitality training in such schools under the roadmap. 

Fernando says some young people are not joining the industry due to negative perceptions and some parents oppose female children in particular from joining the industry, which will be adressed by increasing awareness. 

“We want to reach out to the youth, parents and the community,” he said. 

There is also a potential pool of workers in the military who may want to leave and join the hospitality industry, officials said. 

A research unit will also be set up to get up to date information on local and international trends to help better decision-making.

“A lot of our statistics are guesstimates and many of them are plain wrong,” Fernando said. “The data is simply not available and speculative.” (Colombo/July02/2018) 

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Sri Lanka court halts tourism development on Eastern islet

ECONOMYNEXT - Sri Lanka's Court of Appeal has halted the construction of tourist facilities on a small islet in the east coast after an environmental organization protested that it was done without required environmental clearances. 

The CA issued a stay order on the construction activities by a state agency Sallitivu Islet in Batticaloa until the hearing is concluded. 

The Environmental Foundation Ltd, had gone to court saying the District Secretariat started a projet to build accommodation and tourist facilities in the islet without a license from the Department of Coast Conservation and an environmental impact assesment. 

The EFL in it pleadings filed by counsel Viran Corea, Sarita de Fonseka and Subashini Samaraarchchi, Sarita said the islet had 50 native species of plants, including one national endangered, two nationally vulnerable and four near threatened species according to its ecological profile. 

It also had a mudflat used by migrant bird species. 

EFL pleased that it had been informed that a decision was taken to go ahead without a license because, due to time taken to get it, the funding period will be exceeded. 

The islet was only 275 meters long and 155 meters wide and was seasonally connected to the mainland through a sand bar. 

EFL said tourism was a 'non-conumptive' use of the islet, but it had to be regulated and used in a sustainable manner. 

EFL said it had found construction in progress, with tyre tracks and some vegetation cleared, and plastic refuse scattered about. (Colombo/July05/2018) 

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Sri Lanka's tourist arrivals grow 15.3 pct up to June

COLOMBO, July 4 (Xinhua) -- Sri Lanka has recorded a growth of 15.3 percent in tourist arrivals during the first half of 2018 compared to the same period last year, statistics from the Tourism Ministry showed here Wednesday. 

From January to June, 1,164,647 tourists arrived in Sri Lanka compared to the 1,010,444 tourists who visited the country during the same period last year. 

In June, 146,828 tourists arrived in the island country, 19 percent increase from the arrivals recorded in June 2017. 

India remained the largest market for Sri Lanka in June, followed by China and Britain.

Tourism Minister John Amaratunga told Xinhua that tourism was one of the highest growing sectors in the island. 

"We can reach our target this year. We need to expand the capacity of our airports. Currently, 98 percent of tourists arrive by air," he said. 

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ADB, China leads Sri Lanka foreign financing in early 2018

ECONOMYNEXT – The Asian Development Bank and China were the biggest lenders to Sri Lanka's in the first four months of 2018 followed by Japan, while China also made most of the new commitments, official data shows. 

Out of 512.12 million dollars of bilateral and multilateral financing used in public investment in the first four months of the year, ADB disbursed 228.85 million dollars in loans and 0.74 million in grants. 

China disbursed 90.83 million dollars, Japan 54.9 million dollars and the World Bank 48.83 million dollars. 

China also pledged most of the new project loans, comitting 79.8 million dollars out of a total of 266.2 million US dollars where 10 new agreements were signed. 

After the reporting period, China Development Bank also won a bid to syndicate a billion dollar loan to Sri Lasnka. 

The Asian Development Bank committed 75 millon US dollars followed by India with 45.3 million dollars. 

A total of 219.2 million dollars were pledged as and 46.9 million as grants and technical assistance in the first four month of 2018.

Others who committed new loans were were Australia (25.0 million dollars), USA (17.9 million), Austria (13.0 million), International Fund for Agricultural Development (6.2 million), United Nations Population Fund (4.0 million) and United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (0.01 million).

Of the commitments made the highest amount was committed for the railway sector with 79.8 million. 

The small and medium enterprises sector received the second highest commitment of 75.0 million.

Separately Sri Lanka also raised 2.5 billion US dollars thorugh international sovereign bonds. 

Sri Lanka is now raising foreign loans mostly to repay maturing older loans, as part of a debt re-structuring effort. In the first four months, Sri Lanka had settled 715.6 million US dollars out of which 325.4 million dollars was interest. (COLOMBO, July 02, 2018)

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Sri Lanka private sector to facilitate skills supply in tourism sector with launch of TSC

Jul 02, 2018 (LBO) – The Private Sector Tourism Skills Committee (TSC) launched Tourism Workforce Competitiveness Road-map in collaboration with the private tourism industry to take on the challenge of demonstrating to Sri Lanka’s young women and men that a career in the fast-growing tourism and hospitality industry can be safe, stimulating, well-compensated and full of opportunities for growth. 

“Please don’t call it a strategy. We have too many of those and no one ever seems to act on them,” Malik Fernando, chairman, TSC and managing director of Dilmah Tea’s leisure arm Resplendent Ceylon said. 

“This road-map is a call to action. We hope others will join us, but we don’t intend to wait.”

Formulated under special request from TVEC and the Ministry of Skills Development and Vocational Training to urgently respond to the critical workforce challenges and skills supply in tourism, TSC also plans to ensure that the courses available in training institutes are practical, aligned with market needs, and taught according to global best practices. 

PTSC was formulated under special request from TVEC and the Ministry of Skills Development and Vocational Training to urgently respond to the critical workforce challenges and skills supply in tourism. 

TSC is explicitly private sector-led and voluntary. 

It has already prioritized a list of entry-level courses they intend to update with the assistance of TVEC and SLITHM, as well as new courses Sri Lanka needs to introduce to keep pace with global trends. 

Speaking at the launch, USAID’s Mission Director to Sri Lanka and Maldives, Reed Aeschliman said, “This road-map demonstrates the kind of vision, leadership, and cooperation from the private sector that is needed to ensure Sri Lanka gets the most from its incredibly talented young women and men.” 

The road-map was facilitated by renowned team of international experts including James MacGregor and Srilal Miththapala and brought together by some of the leading minds in the industry; Malik Fernando, Angeline Ondaatjie, Shiromal Cooray, Jayantissa Kehelpannala, Sanath Ukwatte, Chamin Wickramasinghe, Dileep Mudadeniya, Timothy Wright , Steven Bradie-Miles, Preshan Dissanayake, Buddhika Hewawasam, Kavan Ratnayake, Manjula Vidanapathirana, Chandra Vithanage. 

Hiran Cooray, Prema Cooray, and Abbas Esufally acted as senior advisors to PTSC. 

One theme in TSC’s roadmap is to encourage more women to enter the industry. 

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