Government removes credit facility limit on tourist transport vehicles
Sri Lanka’s tourism transport sector will get some relief after the government’s decision to grant 100 per cent leasing facility from finance and leasing companies when purchasing vehicles.
The Central Bank (CB) has issued a directive making certain amendments to previous directions recently stating that the tourism transport sector is exempted from the restrictions imposed on leasing of vehicles limiting the facility to 50 per cent in accordance with 2018 budget proposal.
Since 2014 Sri Lanka’s inbound tourism transport sector was lobbying for duty free car permits or some other concessions to purchase new vehicles for the sustenance of the industry.
They blamed the Tourism Ministry and Treasury authorities for not making any attempt to strengthen the tourist transport service by providing incentives, enabling them to increase the vehicle fleet and by introducing green environmentally-friendly cars and vans to attract travellers while protecting the environment.
The need to increase the tourist transport vehicle fleet has been brought to the notice of Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera in a letter submitted by the Chauffeur Tourist Guide Lecturers’ Association of Sri Lanka (CTGLA) recently, Ranjith Sudasinghe, Vice President of the Association said.
The association has also urged the Finance Minister to grant them a loan facility under the Enterprise Sri Lanka programme similar to the loan given to school van operators up to Rs.4 million to buy a vehicle at the concessionary rate of interest of 3.38 per cent, Mr. Sudasinghe disclosed.
“Our association is a body of professionals trained and licensed by the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority and has been functioning for over two decades,” he said, adding that a vast majority of their members engage in providing their vehicles along with guide services to foreign tourists visiting the country.
The total investment by the Chauffeur Guides in providing these facilities had been nearly Rs. 3 billion, he revealed.
The need to increase the tourist transport vehicle fleet has been brought to the notice of authorities by tourist transport service providers on many occasions but they were not given a fair hearing, he added.
The CTGLA has made representations to the government on several previous occasions to grant them import licences with duty free concessions for the import of economical and environmentally-friendly passenger cars and vans for tourist transport.
They urged that a duty free permit scheme should also be extended to tourist transport service providers who earn much needed foreign exchange for the country.
Tourist transport service providers’ are handling airport pickup, inland transport and eventually airport drop of over 80 per cent of the tourists who visit Sri Lanka.