Hospitality training for Sri Lanka’s rural population
The Association of Small and Medium Enterprises in Tourism, Sri Lanka (ASMET), in keeping with growing tourist arrivals into the country, is planning to provide hospitality training for youngsters in rural areas. The training programme will begin from January next year.
Sam Tegal, re-appointed President of ASMET for 2014 – 2015, told the Business Times on the sidelines of the association’s 8th Annual General Meeting held at the Sri Lanka Institute of Tourism and Hotel Management, Colombo last week, that people in urban cities have lots of privileges in joining hotel schools and getting trained, but those in the village do not have the required facilities and money to spend and get trained in the hospitality sector.
The association is taking the training to the villages in the country to be provided free of charge, he noted.
Speaking at the AGM, Mr. Tegal mentioned that the SME sector plays a very important role in tourism which is growing very rapidly in the country. He also stressed that 60-70 per cent of the market share is brought into the country by the SME sector alone.
He commented on the growth of Chinese tourists which has seen around 106,000 arrivals up to September this year, a sharp rise from around 50,000 for the whole of 2013.
ASMET Founder President Mervyn Fernando told the Business Times that tourist arrivals in Sri Lanka so far have increased more than the expected target. “With the winter season which has just begun we will have more arrivals during the next two months,” he said.