“Laws will be changed to accommodate our plans for tourism,” says President
President Ranil Wickremesinghe. Pic by Priyanka Samaraweera
As Sri Lanka is slowly getting out of bankruptcy and domestic debt restructuring is taking place, the balance of trade is still not in favour of the country.
Whilst ensuring a positive balance of trade in time to come, one of the means of raising funds which is not debt creating, is through tourism, said President Ranil Wickremesinghe adding that laws in Sri Lanka will be changed to accommodate the future tourism plans.
He was addressing the inaugural session of the 67th Convention of the Travel Agents Association of India held at the BMICH in Colombo on Thursday.
Mr. Wickremesinghe said, “Now that we are getting out of bankruptcy in Sri Lanka and domestic debt restructuring is taking place, we still have to remember that the balance of trade is not in our favour. We have to ensure a positive balance of trade in time to come. One of the means of raising funds which is not debt creating, is tourism. So exploit it to the maximum and make use of it so that we can renew the tourist arrivals target from 2.5 million to 5 million per annum. Look at the upper end of the markets, why not we have US$500 or $1000 a night? We have a lot to learn from the Maldives.”
“Sri Lanka is looking at attracting many of our visitors from Asia because it’s easier for them to travel. We will open up the Eastern Province where there will be apartments which you can buy. Even if you want to own a villa we will make arrangements for that too. Come to Sri Lanka this is the place. The laws will be changed to accommodate our plans,” he added.
During the convention the president directed the attendees to visit a few tourism hotspots in Sri Lanka, mainly the Trincomalee Koneswaram Temple, Kataragama Shrine, Nallur Temple in Jaffna and so on.
He also stressed about the Galle Literary Festival which is to be celebrated in a grand scale in January next year as a tourism promotion campaign. “Every town in the Southern Province will have its own festival. Lots of events are planned in line with the Galle Literary Festival in Hiriketiya and Matara including a number of classical and jazz music. In addition to that in January you can also listen to the world renowned Italian tenor, Andrea Bocelli performing in Colombo. We are trying to make tourism new and make more use of the potential,” noted Mr. Wickremesinghe.
He also mentioned that seven more golf coasts will be built around the country, while making Nuwara Eliya the centre for golf. “We want to have large resorts and have identified one next to Dedduwa, over 1000 acres with water in the surrounding good for weddings and environment friendly tourism. Another next to Horton Plains, a 900 acres forest reserve, where you can have a five-star luxury accommodation. Yachting will begin in Sri Lanka with Mannar as one of the headquarters while stretching along the Jaffna lagoon and Trincomalee. We will also exploit the railway in different ways that will go up to Ella. We want to hand over a large number of plantation bungalows for boutique hotels. We want to make Sri Lanka a tourist destination that is worth visiting.”
He questioned the Indian delegates if they are going to stay with domestic tourism alone. “Of the three regions in Asia, East Asia and South East Asia has far more tourists. India is good with domestic tourism and are you going to stay with domestic tourism alone? When you can earn so much money and foreign exchange more than what you target for, if you get people travelling. In the next 10 years the per capita income will increase and people will travel around, looking for eco-friendly tourism. We as a region should make travellers visit from outside. We have so much to offer as a region to the rest of the world,” noted Mr. Wickremesinghe.
Hitad.lk has you covered with quality used or brand new cars for sale that are budget friendly yet reliable! Now is the time to sell your old ride for something more attractive to today's modern automotive market demands. Browse through our selection of affordable options now on Hitad.lk before deciding on what will work best for you!