Sri Lanka’s event management industry gets policy boost with dedicated advisory council
Daily Mirror: Sri Lanka is giving its event management industry a major boost, with the launch of a 25-member advisory council under the Industries Ministry, marking the first time the sector has its own dedicated policy forum.
The move is championed by Industry and Entrepreneurship Development Minister Sunil Handunnetti, in an effort to professionalise and grow the country’s creative service sector.
The event management industry has been a cornerstone of Sri Lanka’s creative economy for over 30 years, directly employing 30,000 people and indirectly supporting another 80,000, impacting more than 400,000 families.
The sector generated Rs.60 billion in 2025, with plans to scale up to Rs.250 billion. Globally, the industry is expanding 10-14 percent annually, with a market valued at $ 1.5 trillion.
Chaired by Event Management Association President Saliya Weerasekara, the advisory council brings together voices from the public, private and academic sectors. Its early agenda focuses on addressing the industry bottlenecks, from simplifying the event permits and safeguarding the creative rights to establishing a national events calendar, improving domestic air travel and creating venues capable of hosting international gatherings in Colombo.
The ministry officials said the council’s formation is expected to strengthen Sri Lanka’s event ecosystem, elevate local talent onto the global stage and integrate the sector more closely with tourism growth, positioning the island as a regional hub for business and creative events.
OSL take:
Sri Lanka’s expanding tourism industry and the ongoing promotional campaigns in key tourist source markets have resulted in the expansion of many sectors related to the industry. With the increasing number of foreign travelers to the country and the many tourism concepts presented by Sri Lanka, there are many business/investment opportunities for foreign businesses/investors in the local tourism industry and related sectors. MICE tourism is one of the key tourism concepts being promoted by Sri Lanka. It is in such a backdrop that Sri Lanka is looking at further streamlining the event management industry to attract more foreign travelers to the country under MICE tourism and meet the requirements of MICE travelers. Given the growth and business potential in Sri Lanka’s tourism industry and related sectors as well as the increasing interest among foreign businesses/investors including international leisure and hospitality brands to enter Sri Lanka, foreign businesses/investors could confidently explore the expanding business/investment opportunities in the country’s tourism industry and related sectors, especially in the MICE tourism sector. Foreign businesses could also look at expanding operations in Sri Lanka’s MICE sector through partnerships or joint ventures with local businesses already engaged in the sector.
| Article Code : | VBS/AT/20260213/Z_3 |