Focus on tourism research in Sri Lanka
View(s):A tourism symposium held recently focusing on enlightening and integrating sustainable tourism development through industry interactive tourism research held recently has discussed some key issues. Among these is that the industry is at a crucial stage of development and needs trained manpower to meet demands of international hotel chains investing in Sri Lanka. The April 5 event, organized by the Department of Economics, Faculty of Arts, University of Colombo together with the students of Masters in Tourism Economics and Hotel Management (MTEHM) saw the course coordinator for the MTEHM Dr. Suranga Silva pointing out that the success and sustainability of the industry will be determined through creative decision making, innovative management, effective marketing, competent human resources and a responsible leadership.
In a media release by the University of Colombo this week, Head of the Department of Economics Prof. (Rev) Wijithapure Wimalaratana drew attention to the behaviour of modern travellers, pointing out they are much more interested in experiencing the local community. He also said that tourist movements are no more confined to hotels and tourist sites so infrastructure development and community awareness plays a major role in welcoming modern travelers to Sri Lanka. Chairman of the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA) Paddy Withana, speaking as the guest of honour, pointed out that the University of Colombo has taken a timely decision to contribute towards Sri Lanka’s tourism development through research.
He said the symposium is of utmost importance for Sri Lanka tourism while celebrating 50 years of service as a tourist destination. He added that the success of Sri Lanka tourism development will depend on well informed data-based decisions and tourism research would be an essential part of it. According to Mr. Withana, the desired outcome of tourism research in the present context is to highlight the gaps in the present systems and to recommend viable means of innovating new products. Furthermore, he cited woman in tourism, Sri Lankan food, nature and tourism, employee satisfaction and modern traveller behaviour as key areas where tourism research should focus. - (NG)