Special Awards for Travel and Tourism

Sri Lanka Tourism has announced the first ever Presidential Awards for Travel and Tourism Excellence.

Scheduled to be held on December 18, 2007 in Colombo this initiative of the Ministry of Tourism and the Sri Lanka Tourist Board (SLTB) is spearheaded by Nalin Attygalle, Marketing and Management consultant.

Nominations for the awards will be called this month and an independent panel of judges, with no involvement in tourism will be the adjudicators. Special Advisor to the Minister of Tourism, M.D.D. Peiris is Chairman of the Awards Organising Committee and a technical committee will assist the judges in providing information of industry awareness.

The SLTB said there is a strong need for the travel and tourism industry, a large contributor to the national coffers where it is the fourth largest income generator, to be recognized and rewarded with national honours.

Providing employment to 150,000 with over a million people dependent on it, the travel and tourism industry becomes an important player in national development, the board said.

The mission of the Travel and Tourism Excellence Awards 2007 is “to recognize and reward excellence among industry stakeholders of past and present and to encourage and ensure an even greater contribution in the future, for the sustainable development of the tourism industry”.

There will be 54 awards in 10 categories at the Presidential Awards ceremony.