Sri Lanka to provide higher quality services to attract up market tourists
The government of Sri Lanka has reportedly said that it intends to attract up market tourists and provide higher quality service for better rates to achieve the target of US$ 10 billion annual earnings from the industry by 2025.
This observation was made by Sri Lanka’s Government Media Spokesperson, Minister Keheliya Rambukwella to EconomyNext recently.
He has said that the industry should seek a balance of the up market traveller and the budget tourists so that there will be a bigger number of travellers arriving in Sri Lanka.
However, experts have questioned Sri Lanka’s capacity in terms of infrastructure to deal with higher rates of arrival.
Writing in the Daily Mirror, independent Venture Capital Consultant Indika Hettiarachchi had said that the country would need to add 4,800 new hotel rooms annually in the next five years to reach this goal and that some 9,000 rooms were being built or construction was approved at present.
According to Rambukwella, in order to bring foreign exchange to the country through tourism and foreign investment the national security of the country should be ensured.
“A foreign investor with US$ 50 million will not come to the country to invest if the country can’t ensure its national security,” the Minister has said, adding that there has to be political stability to safeguard foreign investors.
A stable and predictable tax system will attract foreign investors and the government can have a win-win situation for both parties.
OSL take:
Sri Lanka’s tourism industry is one of the fastest growing economic sectors in the country. The industry is on a continuous growth path with tourist arrivals to the country recording a steady increase. Sri Lanka continues to be listed as a must visit destination by many globally renowned travel publications as well. All this has resulted in the expansion of business/investment opportunities in Sri Lanka’s tourism industry.
Article Code : | VBS/AT/24022020/Z_9 |