Kingsley leads delegation to Korea

A Sri Lankan delegation led by Southern Province Governor Kingsley T. Wickramaratne will attend the 10th Annual Conference of the Inter-Islands Tourism Policy Forum (ITOP) to be held in Jeju Province in the Republic of Korea. The Minister of Tourism Anura Bandaranaike will deliver the Key-Note address at the conference.

ITOP has a membership of 38 island nations including Sri Lanka. It was established with the objective of promoting inter-islands Tourism through a continuous and effective mechanism that serves to strengthen exchanges, facilitate development, share information and promote co-operation.

It also seeks to address issues that relate to the environment, natural resources and sustainable development among other concerns.

In 2004 on the initiative of Mr. Wickramaratne, Sri Lanka won the bid to host the ITOP Conference in 2007. It will be held in the Southern province from 12-15 October. Wickramaratne has bee elected Chairman of the ITOP Conference 2007 which is expected to have over 1000 delegates from 38 countries. Publicity for the Conference which is estimated to be in the region of US$ 10 million will originate from Hawaii, where ITOP has its headquarters.

ITOP is known to be a widely influential forum and the ITOP Conference 2007 will be a shot in the arm for Sri Lanka's tourism industry.