Rohantha appointed Vice President of World Rural Tourism Council

Tuesday, 10 December 2024 03:09 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Dr. Rohantha Athukorala

professional and former Tourism Chairman Dr. Rohantha Athukorala has been appointed as the Vice President of the World Rural Tourism Council (WRTC).

The WRTC drives the global agenda where a typical visitor experiences nature-based activities in a village, agriculture, rural lifestyle/culture, and sightseeing.

WRTC Secretary General Dr. Gan Yongfu said: “We need a person who has value chain development experience linked to brand development which includes export marketing and we are delighted to have Dr. Athukorala do this task for the South Asian region.”

Dr. Athukorala said: “When a majority of households in a country is challenged by the rising cost of living, rural tourism has been adopted in many parts of the world as a strategy to drip down the benefits of tourism at a village level. South Asian countries must adopt this best practice, especially in Sri Lanka.”

Dr. Athukorala, with a 20-year multinational career track record in British multinationals Unilever, ReckittBenckiser, and DiverseyLever, was the youngest Chairman to be appointed to the Sri Lanka Export Development Board and Sri Lanka Tourism.

He was instrumental in setting up the Achchuveli industrial zone when he was working for the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS). He led the Tourism Carrying Capacity Study of Sigiriya and the Tourism Development Strategy of Central/Uva Province in partnership with the Sri Lanka Tourism Ministry, both funded by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP). A sought after speaker globally, he recently was the keynote guest at ‘Tourism Potential in Pakistan in Islamabad, Global Rural Tourism Conference 2024,’ China.

“There are many Rural Tourism projects implemented in China and the WRTC calls for tourism industries across the world to safeguard rural villages with its knowledge systems whilst targeting the global traveller. It is a brilliant strategy to address the issue of poverty in a country,” said Dr. Gan.

Its headquarters is based in Luncun, Huzhou, China.