Hotels ready to meet tourist influx

Sri Lanka needs around 25,000 hotel rooms to meet the 2.5 million tourist arrival target by 2016, said Sri Lanka Hotels Association President, Anura Lokuhetty. He was addressing the media on World Tourism Day (WTD) on Tuesday.

He said that attracting 2.5 million tourists is not a difficult task, provided the infrastructure is in place to meet the expectations of visitors.

"The hotel sector is undergoing major refurbishment and expansion with additional rooms to cater to the influx of tourist arrivals", Lokuhetty said.

Many hotels across the country have been given a facelift with the infusion of modern amenities to woo travellers.

Sri Lanka Tourism has launched a program to promote diverse attractions of the country.

The WTD is celebrated around the world on September 27. A day declared by the United Nations to foster awareness among the international community of the importance of tourism and its social, cultural and economic values.

The day is marked world over with a variety of events and festivities. Photograph and culinary competitions, exhibitions, workshops and award presentations are some of the highlights of World Tourism Day.

The theme of this year's WTD celebrations is Tourism-Linking Cultures. The WTD was celebrated last year in Hikkaduwa.

The WTD celebrations this year will be at the Beira Lake in Colombo.The day's celebrations will comprise a culinary art and career guidance program, chefs guild, kitchen demonstration and front office training for aspirants.

Lokuhetty said that WTD is to be celebrated in Sri Lanka on a very appropriate theme where the country has a great diversity of culture.

"With the industry geared to attract over two million tourists there will be employment opportunities for around 500,000 people by 2016", he said.

The scarcity of skilled workers is another hurdle to boost tourism in the country. The hotel industry lacks skilled workers to cater to the industry. Currently around 150,000 are employed in the industry while there is a need for 350,000 workers.

Vocational Training Authority (VTA) Chairman, Dhammika Hewapathirana said that steps have been taken to build around 20 hotel schools in the country and recruit more people to the industry.

"We have launched a program to train youth for the tourism industry which is a primary revenue earner to the country. Awareness programs are conducted islandwide to instill interest on the lucrative industry among youth", he said.

The VTA provides expertise to conduct programs aimed at improving skills among youth for various industries.

Sri Lanka Tourism Chairman, Dr. Nalaka Godahewa said that tourism which currently is at the sixth slot in revenue earning will be made the number one foreign exchange earner in the country.

"Sri Lanka is still way behind many countries in the region in terms of attracting tourists. Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia and China has over 10 million tourists a year. We need to position the country as the best destination for tourism", Godahewa said.

The global tourism industry is a $ one trillion industry accounting for a sizeable workforce.Modern tourism with its diverse attractions is a key driver of socio-economic progress.

World Tourism Day, was first celebrated in 1979.

The United Nations' World Tourism Organisation said that WTD is appropriate since it marks the end of the tourism season in the northern hemisphere and the beginning of the season in the southern hemisphere.

Each year has a different theme- for example 'Tourism -celebrating diversity' was the theme of celebration in Ghana in 2009.

LF