SL tourism beaten by Mauritius and Seychelles: Rohantha

Wednesday, 19 June 2019 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Keynote speaker at University of Kelaniya Youth Forum Dr. Rohantha Athukorala

The latest research done by Global Artificial Intelligence laboratory reveals that Mauritius and Seychelles ‘beaches’ are ranked stronger than Sri Lanka pushing us to 3rd place, said Dr. Rohantha Athukorala the Country Head for Clootrack – Sri Lanka, Maldives and Pakistan addressing the University of Kelaniya Youth Forum 2019.

Sri Lanka known all over the world for its beautiful beaches has not innovated and created excitement around this product attribute which is why we are losing this competitive edge, said the Board Director for Serendib Leisure, a Hemas Holdings Leisure company and who is a Former Chairman of Sri Lanka Tourism.

The speaker mooted the idea citing how the apparel industry has an ongoing partnership with University of Moratuwa which is one of the reasons Sri Lanka’s apparel industry has become a world-beater in the global supply chain.

It’s time that Sri Lanka’s tourism industry links up with a university like Kelaniya and invests in research and development so that we build a new ‘Position for the brand Sri Lanka Tourism’.

On a question asked on how long Sri Lanka will take to recover from the current issue post the ‘Easter Attacks’, his view was a minimum one year given that globally we have no strategic advertising campaign like what Malaysia or Thailand executes.

The President of the Youth Forum of Kelaniya University Nayomi Thalagahahena commented, “Sri Lanka youth needs stronger engagement with professionals from the industry, so that we can fashion our studies to what the private sector wants.”

This will increase our value when we enter the private sector, said the final-year graduate of Kelaniya University.