Lanka targets 650,000 tourists next year

by Chanuka Mannapperuma

"We are expecting 650,000 tourists by next year," Secretary to the Ministry of Travel and Tourism Dr. P. Ramanujam told the Sunday Observer.

Tourist arrivals increased to 482,787 in October this year compared to last year. The tourists had arrived mainly from Western European countries and the others from South Asia. He said, they could expect nearly one million tourists by the year 2010.

There were 449,680 tourist arrivals last year. Due to the increase in the number of tourists, and with the plan to promote the tourism industry the Ministry will launch, the Tourism Resources Improvement project at a cost of Yen 2604 million. Project Director, Ministry of Travel and Tourism Y. H. De Silva said the objective of the project is to become an active partner in promoting tourism among the Asian countries and to actively support the local community by creating economic opportunities.

The main Donor Agency for this project was the Japan Bank for International Co-operation (JBIC). It is mainly focused on the geographical areas such as Sigiriya, Anuradhapura, Nuwara Eliya, Negombo, Kandy and Colombo. The project in the Negombo area covers the rehabilitation of the Hamilton Canal, fishermen's wharf improvement, a model beach park and town beautification.

The Sigiriya project covers heritage site improvements, tourist access road development and to re-construct the road between Sigiriya and Polonnaruwa. The project proposed in Nuwara Eliya is for Lake Gregory improvement, Victoria Park improvement and the main town area beautification. It is also proposed to supply equipment for hotel schools in Colombo and Kandy.

He said the project committee was planning to complete this project by end 2010. The tourism industry earns major foreign-exchange for the country."We should extend facilities to travellers. We should not only focus on the large scale tourism industry but should also focus on developing small tourism towns in close proximity to major tourists zones, he said.

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