Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority:

Training program for home-stay operators

Sri Lankans from all over the country responded to the promotional program for home-stays initiated by Sri Lanka Tourism. There are 125 registered home-stay units/bungalows (360 rooms) covering 16 districts which are ready to receive guests. The residences are comfortable and clean meeting the essentials required for toruists. Since most owners are new to the industry, their knowledge and skills have to be developed to assure a satisfactory service, prior to operation.

This initiative will help home-stay owners to provide quality service to tourists, according to their taste and tour expectations, preserving Sri Lankan values within the socio-cultural framework.

To cater to these needs Sri Lanka Tourism organised a three-day training program for home-stay operators from August 28 - September 4, where 80 operators participated.

The National Tourism Organisation (Sri Lanka Tourism) and the Ministry of Economic Development initiated the Home-Stay Program in January 2011 to give the benefit of tourism to the rural community who was not with the industry before.

This program also supplements the demand for accommodation at various tourist destinations with the target of increasing the number of rooms required for tourism.

This new tourism product offers a memorable experience to the tourist, enabling him/her to experience the Sri Lankan way of life, highlighting the 'authenticity' of tourism in Sri Lanka.

Chairman of Sri Lanka Tourism, Dr Nalaka Godahewa explained the importance as being a new initiative to convey the value of Sri Lanka to tourists who visit the country, and called upon the audience to develop the product collectively while improving residences and services.

Representatives of Etisalat and Expo Lanka Holdings (Pvt) Ltd. who assisted the program with the marketing facility by creating the website www.srilankanhomestay.com conducted a session to educate participants about the function of the web-based reservation mechanism.