Srilal bats for Sri Lanka Tourism at international conference

Friday, 12 July 2013 05:53 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Srilal Miththapala recently participated at the International Conference on Responsible Tourism organised by the Kerala Institute of Tourism and Travel Studies (KITTS), as one of the main speakers at the plenary session. His presentation outlined the strides taken by the Sri Lankan hotel sector in embracing more sustainable consumption practices in Sri Lanka, drawing on the extensive work done by

the EU-funded SWITCH ASIA Program Greening Sri Lanka Hotels project, of which he functions as Project Director.

He presented the project research findings on the extent of green practices adopted by Sri Lankan hotels, taking several case studies of some of the hotels who have shown good initiatives in embracing environmental practices. He also chaired and moderated the session on environmental responsibility on the second day where a lively discussion took place re the unregulated over supply of house boats on the Kerala back waters, resulting in pollution. The conference was attended by foreign delegates, as well as locals, and was held over two days in the tourist region of the Kumarakum Backwaters of Kerala.