Boost for tourism sector

by Jayampathy JAYASINGHE

Sri Lanka’s tourism sector is expected to grow by leaps and bounds following the ending of the 30-year-old war that severely affected the tourism industry.

Director General of the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority, S. Kalaiselvam told the Sunday Observer that the Board of Investment has launched a special incentive package to facilitate investors willing to develop the tourism sector of the North and the East following the ending of the war.

He said there was a dearth of hotel rooms at present in the Eastern and Northern Provinces. There was a shortage of 2,000 rooms in the Northern province alone to accommodate local expatriates who have shown a willingness to visit the North in the future.

“However we expect that by 2016, around 3,500 additional hotel rooms would be built to accommodate the tourists visiting these areas. Tourist arrivals from the United Kingdom and India this year have surpassed 100,000 persons”, he said.

According to projections, the number of tourists visiting the country is estimated to be around 2.5 million by 2016. This would also follow the development of the Kalpitiya tourist zone where mega luxury tourist accommodation would be built.

Meanwhile, tourist arrivals from Europe, Germany, France and Italy - too have improved following the lifting of travel advisories imposed by these countries during the war.

Meanwhile, a refurbishment program in the hotel sector is under way to increase the hotel room capacity by 14,000 shortly.