Harin crafts compelling story of SL’s resilient tourism industry on CNN

• Reveals short- and long-term plans to revive industry in interview with CNN’s renowned business news anchor Richard Quest
• Says SL tourism has bounced back to normalcy during past 3 months
• Expresses confidence in SL’s product offerings

In a compelling story to the world, Tourism Minister Harin Fernando revealed short- and long-term plans to revive the troubled sector with the support of resilient and agile tourism stakeholders.

During a brief interview with CNN’s renowned business news anchor Richard Quest on Tuesday, Minster Fernando affirmed Sri Lanka’s tourism industry bounced back over the past three months, despite the multiple challenges.

“Things are turning out to be good. Over the last three months, tourism has picked up in Sri Lanka. The industry is strong, and the hoteliers and travel agents have a long history and vast experience. Tourism is one industry Sri Lanka needs to put our hands up and perform,” he said.

Despite the uncertainty around the world, Minister Fernando expressed confidence in Sri Lanka’s product offering, adding that the industry has a short and long-term plan to revive the billion-dollar tourism industry.

“It is a task but look around the world; everywhere you see has some issue. Even though Sri Lanka is in a mess, our outlook is slightly better because Sri Lanka has a good product to sell. Sri Lanka as a product has something for everyone,” he stressed.

Noting that the country has gotten over the queues and revived tourism to a certain extent, Fernando said Sri Lankans have a positive nature.

“Our industry is stronger; the hoteliers and the travel agents have a long history and vast experiences. They have faced many issues but have always bounced back stronger. It is why they often call us ‘positive Polly’,” he quipped.

He explained that jumping into India is the short-term plan to tap into a fraction of the massive middle-income market of 230 million and to attract Bangladeshi travellers, whilst the long-term intention is to draw tourists from European countries during the winter season.

As the situation in Sri Lanka continues to improve, he said Mastercard introduced a card promotion for the island nation as a safe, affordable destination for inbound travellers, particularly in India and Bangladesh.

He also said coming to Sri Lanka during the winter is cheaper than paying gas prices in Europe. “It is 10 times cheaper for Europeans to spend on a quality holiday in Sri Lanka,” he added.

Minister Fernando also said several key international airlines enhanced their frequencies to Sri Lanka, especially from the leading Gulf region airlines. In addition, he noted that top European airlines such as KLM, Air France and Swiss Air resumed services to Colombo this month.