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| Sunday, 14 August 2005 |
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| News Business Features Editorial
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No tsunami travails for tourists in Lanka by Elmo Leonard The fear of seeing pathetic tsunami refugees continued to keep tourists away from Sri Lanka's sunny beaches and with it, possibly even from visiting other parts of the island. In this backdrop, many professionals in tourism have called for extensive promotion to convince potential tourists that the misery of shelterless people they saw on television just following the tsunami is past. This was echoed by Secretary, Ministry of Tourism, Dr. Prathap Ramanujam, with the emphasis that the media take up that challenge. Following the tsunami, Sri Lanka needs to be relaunched and it could be done through the world's largest industry, being tourism, chairman of the Tourist Hotels Association of Sri Lanka (THASL) Hiran Cooray said. The development within the island could be focused through tourism. The inbuilt hospitality of her people could also be incorporated into such a campaign. In this way, Sri Lanka could be made one of the most sought after destinations in the world, Cooray said at the joint AGMs of THASL and the Sri Lanka Association of Inbound Tour Operators. The tourism industry is campaigning for electricity tariffs equivalent to the lower rate afforded to industrialists and chairman, Ceylon Tourist Board, Udaya Nanayakkara said that he would do all he could to obtain lower rates for the hospitality sector. When people in the tourism trade appeal to government for incentives or benefits, they should do so for the good of the entire sector and not for the benefit of one entity, Nanayakkara said. He said that the first half of this year witnessed an increase in tourists arrivals from France, India, Australia, UK, Malaysia and Singapore compared with arrivals from those destinations during the corresponding half of 2004. The Managing Director of Walkers Tours Wasantha Leelananda described Sri Lanka's tourism industry as her "best invisible export product." Herbert Cooray, the chairman of the Jetline group and grand old man of Sri Lanka's tourism was recognised for his services, during the proceedings. ############## Clean and Green campaign to promote tourism The Sri Lanka Tourist Board (SLTB) has launched a campaign to clean the surroundings of monuments and tourist attractions to promote international and domestic tourism in a big way. The objective of this campaign is to keep all tourist destinations clean and green. The SLTB has already completed three clean up projects in Sigiriya, Mihintale and the Beruwela Beach in association with stakeholders of the tourism industry. The latest project to keep the environment clean and green was launched at the Wilpattu National Park. The SLTB along with the Department of Wildlife Conservation commenced a program to clean and clear the 14 km road access to Promparippu from Talawila. This will help visitors to the park to access and witness a large number of wild elephants in the area. The clearing of this access road will be completed soon. The Human Resource Development Division of the Sri Lanka Tourist Board is
conducting community awareness programs to educate the public in the
principal tourist development areas on the economic and social benefits of
tourism and to draw their attention to the potential negative impact that
tourism development can have on the traditional Sri Lanka society and the
natural environment. |
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