Thursday Nov 21, 2024
Thursday Nov 21, 2024
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| The Hotels Association of Sri Lanka President M. Shanthikumar |
The Hotels Association of Sri Lanka (THASL) yesterday expressed its appreciation to President Anura Kumara Dissanayake as the Minister in charge of Tourism as well as Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA) Chairman and the Government for taking prompt action with regards to a warning on a threat to Arugam Bay a few days ago.
THASL said this small town located on the Eastern belt in Sri Lanka, known for especially surf enthusiasts, has attracted many tourists from different nationalities in the recent past.
“To ensure the safety of these tourists is of paramount importance,” THASL President M. Shanthikumar said.
According to him, the issue of unauthorised tourism operations in different parts of the country by foreign nationals was of great concern to the industry for the past few years.
Such operations send out the wrong signals and deprive the country of revenues as they do not pay taxes etc. Repeated requests from key industry associations were ignored for reasons unknown.
THASL President was also appreciative of the focus by the senior officials of the Government to crack down such operations and take action on tourists overstaying their visa period. “We believe that anyone can conduct operations related to tourism in the country but all must fall within the laws of the land. This also applies to local nationals,” Shanthikumar said.
He emphasised that tourism is a key foreign exchange earner and a careful strategy to sustain this industry for the future is critical. Over 12% of the country’s population is dependent on this industry which is extremely sensitive to internal and external shocks. Hence, timely action by the authorities is of paramount importance.
THASL is hopeful and calls the senior authorities to roll out the global promotional campaign immediately if the industry is to eventually attract the desired numbers stipulated by the Government.
“We must understand that our competing destinations are very active in all the key source markets and the need to consistently promote the country overseas is the need of the hour. THASL members spend over Rs. 2 billion annually for overseas marketing and promotions and so do the SLAITO members. This is still not sufficient,” emphasised Shanthikumar and added that the contribution of 1% of the formal sector revenues to the SLTDA is to utilise these funds to drive arrival growth to the country through overseas promotions.
