More jobs in tourism sector
by Uditha KUMARASINGHE
The Tourism Ministry has launched a national level program to train
skilled persons to cater to the increasing demand in the tourist sector
which has shown a remarkable progress after the eradication of terrorism
in the country.
On a directive by President Mahinda Rajapaksa, the Ministry has made
arrangements to introduce a national level program countrywide by
providing training opportunities to a large number of youth who seek
employment in the tourist sector, Tourism Minister Achala Jagoda told
the Sunday Observer.
Under this national program, the Ministry has already launched
training courses in Colombo and Ratnapura districts. A series of long-
term and short-term programs will be conducted by experts on key areas
in the tourist sector.
To provide more training opportunities to the youth, the Government
has also made arrangements to set up a Hotel School in each province.
Plans have been drawn up to set up Hotel Schools in the Northern and the
Eastern provinces including Jaffna, Batticaloa and Vavuniya districts to
overcome the unemployment problem of youth who had to face severe
hardships due to terrorism, he said.
The Minister said the Government aims at generating more employment
opportunities in the tourist sector within the next few years. This
would provide an opportunity for a large number of youth to gain
employment in the tourism sector.
Minister Jagoda said the Tourism Ministry has formulated an action
plan to increase the present tourist arrivals by five fold in 2016.
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