Tourism restructuring program:

New heads to be appointed soon

The restructuring program for the tourism industry will be completed shortly with the appointments of new heads to institutions, a senior official of the Ministry of Tourism told the media on the selection of Sri Lanka as the host destination for the Congress 2016 by the Syndicate National Des agents de Voyages (SNAV) .

The new appointments will be made after obtaining approval from President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe.

Journalists queried as to how a ministry could function without heads to institutions and why had there been a delay in appointing them as the Ministry of Tourism plays a pivotal role in the economic growth of the country.

Deputy Minister of Tourism Arundika Fernando said steps will be taken to model Sri Lanka tourism in line with Thailand and Malaysia which have made leaps and bounds in tourism.

He said even a pineapple seller in Thailand is a huge attraction and street food outlets are common in Malaysia. We should think of having such street food outlets in Colombo.

A French traveller said Sri Lanka has a plethora of attractions to offer French visitors. However, the scarcity of French-speaking guides is a huge hindrance to develop the French tourism market.

France is among the top 10 markets for Sri Lankan tourism. The number of French tourists arrivals has grown over the years. Experts are confident that the number of visitors from France will reach 100,000 in the next couple of years.

The French outbound market comprises 24.6 million trips per annum with a duration of 7.4 days and average spending between 1,800-2,875 Euro. France accounts for around 88 percent of the leisure tourism in Sri Lanka. Paris, Lyon, Toulouse, Marseille and Nantes are some of the major cities from which French travellers visit Sri Lanka.

The Syndicate National Des agents de Voyages (SNAV), the largest travel agents association in France has selected Sri Lanka to hold Congress 2016, from October 30 to November 3, 2016. Around 700 French travel agents are due to visit Negombo, Colombo and the cultural triangle during the five-day Congress.

The SNAV Congresses was held this year in Marseilles and last year in French Reunion. In the past it had been held in Beijing, Merida, Amman and Pataya. The SNAV has selected a long haul destination such as Sri Lanka after 10 years.SNAV is an organisation ruled by the French law of 1884. Set up in 1944 SNAV has a membership of over 5,700 state approved travel agencies and tour operators of France representing more than 5,000 sales points in France.

CEO, Sri Lanka Convention Bureau, Vipula Wanigasekera said the formal announcement of selection will be made in Marseille, France on November 18 at the SNAV annual general meeting. Currently French tourists arrivals have increase from 16,205 in 2009 to 80,000 in 2014 and this year the increase is around 10 percent.France is a primary tourist market for Sri Lanka and through the event it hopes to open her full tourism potential to the French market. France produces the highest number of incentive travelers from Europe which is a key factor for Sri Lanka to bid for the conference where buyers will get a first hand experience of the development in the country and its diverse attractions.