Financial Times

Winners at The Sunday Times FT-BMS tourism competition

Winners of The Sunday Times FT-Business Management School contest on ideas to develop tourism after the impact of the tsunami were given their prizes at a recent ceremony held at the Galadari Hotel.

V.M.A.Amanullah from Geli Oya was the overall winner of the event, securing a free return air ticket to London, three nights’ free stay in Leicester and a guided tour of the University of Leicester.

Five consolation prizes consisting of a holiday package to local hotels were presented to Johann Tambayah, Ahmed Imran Sheriff, Ms Deeshani Gooneratne, Ajantha Dharmasiri and Ms. Sarah Sheriff whose entries were placed in the honourable mention category. The winners were also given a trophy and a certificate.

The idea for a contest to pick the brains of Sri Lanka’s young professionals and provide them a forum for their ideas to help develop the country came when The Sunday Times FT and BMS, the premier business school in Sri Lanka, decided to carry out an innovative Case Study Competition on the subject “Can we restore Tourism to its former Glory?” Competitors were asked to write in their thoughts and ideas in a 500-word presentation on how Sri Lanka can take tourism – the worst affected industry by the tsunami -- forward after Asia’s biggest natural disaster.

The prize winning entries were published in The Sunday Times FT. They had many interesting ideas and proposals for the country’s tourism planners, a point that was noted by Wasantha Leelananda, President Sri Lanka Association of Inbound Tour Operators, and Executive Vice President and Head of Leisure Inbound Sector John Keels Holdings, who was the chief guest at the presentation ceremony.

He said the tsunami had caused havoc to the tourism industry which is still trying to recover from the impact. Most of the tourism companies were showing about a 40 percent drop in earnings due to falling arrivals last year. Tourism industry officials say the Tourist Board’s figure of arrivals can be misleading because many are not strictly “tourists” in the real sense of the word. Some of the foreign guests included in the Board’s figures which show only a marginal drop from 2004, are NGO staffers, aid workers and Sri Lankan expatriates with foreign passports on holiday.

Leelananda promised to discuss the various proposals and suggestions that came out in the contest with other sections of the industry and the authorities and look at implementation where possible. Ms. Deeshanie Gooneratne, Manager, Seylan Bank – one of the winners – who spoke on behalf of the participants of this contest, said as young professionals they were happy that there is a forum to express one’s ideas and thoughts. “This is a good competition as it provides a base for us to make suggestions on ways and means of helping the country’s development,” she said. Organisers said they planned to continue the competition this year too – based on a different theme. The introductory speech was made by Nizam Razzaq, Director, Business Management School.

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