Sri Lanka Association of Inbound Tour Operators (SLAITO) and its ‘One Industry One Voice’ initiative have expressed concern over the changes proposed to the current Tourism Act of 2005.

In a statement SLAITO reiterated that as the Apex body of the inbound tourism industry that generates more than 60% of tourist arrivals, they are extremely concerned regarding the Budget proposal to repeal the current Tourism Act. 

“Members of our association are unanimous that it is not necessary to change this Act as it has resulted in the betterment of the tourism industry. The Hotels Association of Sri Lanka (THASL) and Travel Agents Association of Sri Lanka (TAASL), the other important Apex bodies of tourism too have not requested for a change of the current Act,” SLAITO said. 

It said as an association it will be receptive to any change that will be beneficial to the industry. “However, our request is to engage the Apex bodies responsible for tourist arrivals and the growth of the industry if the Government has any intention of replacing the current Tourism Act of 2005. We feel that the change proposed in the Budget of 2021 is detrimental to the tourism industry, as it was done without the consensus of the key stakeholders, nor the Apex bodies recognised by the Tourism Act,” SLAITO said. 

“If a change is necessary to the current structure, what we would like to propose is a merger of the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA) and Sri Lanka Institute of Tourism and Hotel Management (SLITHM) as one institute to handle policy, development, training and as a regulatory body under one chairman, and to merge Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau (SLTPB) and Sri Lanka Conventions Bureau (SLCB) to handle marketing and promotional strategies,” SLAITO said. 

Reiterating that there was no necessity to change the current Tourism Act, SLAITO said: “We could consider an amendment after a discussion with the Apex bodies and the stakeholders in tourism. The need of the hour is to unite the industry and to put all our resources to recommence the tourism industry conforming to the Health guidelines to revive the livelihoods of the tourism stakeholders.”

In its statement, SLAITO also recapped the basis for the current Act. It said the Tourism Act of 2005 came into effect with the objective of developing the tourism industry to meet the international standards and to promote the destination with an effective marketing strategy with the private public partnership (PPP). 

SLAITO, THASL and TAASL, as the three main associations representing the hoteliers, inbound tour operators and outbound travel companies were identified as the three apex bodies. SLTDA, SLTPB, SLCB and SLITHM were set up under the Tourism Act to handle different aspects such as policy, regulation, marketing and training. The Boards of these institutions comprised of Government officials and private sector professionals nominated by the respective Apex bodies.

After the conclusion of the conflict in 2009, with the guidance of the former Minister of Economic Development and then Secretary Dr. P.B. Jayasundera, Sri Lanka Tourism achieved over two million tourist arrivals with a foreign exchange earnings of $ 3.5 billion during the period from 2009 to 2015. A sum of approximately Rs. 10 billion was collected as TDL during this period.

“The current Tourism Act eased the burden on the Government on promotional expenditure as the funds collected as TDL was used for the purpose of promoting the destination effectively to achieve the revenue targets of the Government,” SLAITO said.

In 2015, with the change of Government, a Tourism Task Force was appointed and they reported directly to the Prime Minister. The Task Force was not successful in tourism development, promotion or branding of the destination. Overall, they failed to take the tourism industry forward as the Task Force comprised of members who did not have the in depth knowledge on tourism, neither did they represent the Apex bodies.

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