After noticing that your headline in the article last week under the above headline was somewhat one-sided where the selection of the vast majority of the winners was not challenged even informally, we thought it is appropriate to present our version to the readers to be fair by those who worked tirelessly and sometime round [...]

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The Sundaytimes Sri Lanka

Industry claims comedy of errors at Sri Lanka Tourism Awards

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After noticing that your headline in the article last week under the above headline was somewhat one-sided where the selection of the vast majority of the winners was not challenged even informally, we thought it is appropriate to present our version to the readers to be fair by those who worked tirelessly and sometime round the clock in the run up to staging of this event, as well as the winners who carried fond memories of being recipients of the Tourism awards.

No event of this nature would go spotless without being subject to some criticism and that is understandable. However, the manner in which this article was written may give a different interpretation to readers that everything that happened with the programme was a failure. Here are some points that the readers ought to have been told together with your part of the story.

At the outset, the criteria were developed in consultation with industry members’ prior to organizing the event. Under the direction of the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority, 13 expert panels were constituted with the members of Travel Tourism and hospital industry to review sector specific guidelines and the criteria. Therefore it is not correct to say the criteria were not adequate. There may be adjustments that would be required as we go on and that is another matter for the future.

The recognition given to three embassies was timely for the efforts made by them in the area of tourism. Some have displayed a mammoth commitment to develop tourism and the industry members know this quite well. If this is part of their job according to your article, the same argument may be applied to all other winners citing that they will be rewarded one way or another by way of promotions, profits etc.

This is an event that was conducted by SLTDA over the past few years in the interest of the industry to recognize excellence in various fields of tourism. In that process, some may tend to get hurt and that would be predictable just as in the case of even Oscars. The increased number of awards was given after identifying the specialized areas as well as skills in the fast fragmenting products and services. The chefs, tour guides are very much part of the industry whom the Authority could not recognize in the past. Someday, we might even have to recognize the ‘best beach boy’ once we are able to make all of them truly assets to the industry.

Yes, we were aware that the list was long but it was worth the time and trouble taken. All those photographs we saw appearing in the newspapers after the ceremony speak for themselves. The elation of the winners would naturally turn out to be greater motivation apart from the extra feather placed on their cap. Prof. Uditha Liyanage who has an unblemished record for this kind of assignments which he has kindly volunteered to offer us, correctly stated (in your article) that the panel of judges representing various quarters including the industry had carried out the selection process based on the criteria developed over a period of time that evolved since the awards were initiated. This is the height of credibility of the process that was followed.

Hotel industry veteran Prema Cooray receiving an award at the Tourism Awards

It is true that the writer too heard a few negative comments on a couple of awards, which apart from being an independent process, is only a small fraction of the 70 odd awards given away, even if there are some concerns that need to be looked into. We shall look into them obviously for veracity.
Lastly, your article may well paint totally a different picture when the words such as ‘comedy of errors’ were used which imply, not only the majority of the selections but also the sequence of the programme on that day were in a muddle. That was certainly not the case for hundreds of industry participants who witnessed the colourful magnificent evening and strangely, not a word has been written with regard to the quality of the event, the concept, theme, design and the program etc. That is regretted.

That said, we would like to stress that tourism authorities would welcome all such criticism if they are constructive enough for us to make improvements as we move forward. To that extent, we have no grievance over the article that was published in your newspaper last Sunday and we only had to do the justice for the majority of the participants, winners and stake holders of this event.

Vipula Wanigasekera,
Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority
Sri Lanka Convention Bureau
Business Editor says: We beg to disagree on the tone of our article though the headline, we are inclined to agree, may have been a bit harsh. Having said that our story while raising concerns from a section of the industry, also extensively quotes Prof Liyanage for the ‘other side of the story’. As for comments describing the conduct of the awards night itself, reference should also be made to the article published in this regard on September 2, 2012 titled “Tourism Awards night sees giants make headway in tourism” that clearly highlighted the winners, the theme, concept and design as well. While an awards of this nature by and large is welcome and provides motivation to a key national sector, the concern by sections of the industry as reported by this newspaper we hope will be taken in the spirit of objective criticism and corrections made if the Authority deems fit. After all it’s a newspaper’s duty to inform the public of the ‘nice things’ and also the ‘not so nice things’ particularly when it is an award of national significance and embraced by the public unlike the plethora of awards that are presented these days in any sector.

As for the reference to pictures of the event in newspapers speaks for itself, we can only say that pictures are carried of both good and bad awards and both good and bad events.




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