Over 200 tourist locations to be developed

by Ananda KANNANGARA

Over 200 tourist locations will be developed by the Ministry of Tourism during the next three months in order to achieve the desired foreign exchange earnings for the year 2010.

According to a recent Tourism Ministry research, these unidentified tourist locations are found in the country's rural and remote sectors and also in the Northern and Eastern regions.

Tourism Minister Achala Jagoda said that with the dawn of peace in the country, Sri Lanka is targeting 600,000 tourist arrivals this year.He said to develop the tourism industry we need to introduce tourist locations.

The Southern and Eastern coastal belts, the up country and other historical places are ideal locations to woo tourists to the country.

He said the tourist arrivals declined during the past 30 years due to the war. There is a need to construct over 50,000 hotel rooms to cater to the demands of the tourism industry.

He said the Government should conduct international sporting events, exhibitions, conferences, fashion shows and various other entertainment programs in Sri Lanka to attract more foreign tourists.

"For the first time Sri Lanka Tourism will establish tourist villages in the picturesque beaches of Kalpitiya, Nilaweli and Pasikuda.