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| Sunday, 16 May 2004 |
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Minister to launch hotel refurbishment scheme Ministry of Industry, Tourism and Investment Promotion will make a special recommendation to the Government to consider a scheme for duty- free imports of materials for refurbishment of hotels. "I would make a special recommendation to the Government to consider a special scheme for duty-free importation of materials for refurbishment of hotels as done by the PA regime of 1998 and 1999," said Minister of Industry Tourism and Investment Promotion, Anura Bandaranaike addressing a gathering of Tourist Agents recently in Colombo. He said that if the tourism industry could maintain this favourable upward trend in tourist arrivals in the coming years, hotel room capacity which stands at 14,100 would not be adequate to meet the increasing demand. As a solution to this problem we need to encourage the small timers in the country to upgrade their rooms and facilities and added that we should encourage the hotels to upgrade the product offered to tourists. "The country should exploit the vast potential for tourist traffic which lies in China and India and actively promote Sri Lanka in these two destinations," he noted. The Minister said the country could not forget the local tourists and emphasised that he would be looking at Urban Development Authority owned Rest houses to develop them as they had been in an appalling state now. The contents of the new tourism law are being studied by the Minister and the Cluster committee appointed by President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga so that it could be passed in parliament with necessary modifications," He said. The new law provides for the setting up of the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority with five regional committees in the regions to manage the industry under the ministry supervision. He further said that it had been stated that the Tourist Board needs to be restructured to make it an effective regulatory authority and at the same time a private sector managed organisational structure should undertake the tourism marketing and promotion in the international markets adequately supported by a cess fund. The minister said the tourism promotion Marketing Bureau would be set up in the form of a guaranteed company driven by the private sector which would take over tourism promotion and marketing functions now being handled by the Tourist Board. The Tourism Development Fund has already been set up with contributions from the industry and the airport tax collections. This mechanism I believe would be the most relevant to drive the industry forward. He said that the need had arisen to upgrade the tourism product while ensuring garbage and tout free beaches as well as clean and pristine tourist resorts." Government will concentrate on attracting potential foreign investors along with our local investors to invest in high value added products such as eco lodges and boutique hotels which are in great demand in the world today among the high yield tourists," said minister Bandaranaike. |
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