MSI World Tourism Day Celebrations 2020

An initiative to develop the Pettah Floating Market

In celebration of the World Tourism Day 2020 (WTD) which is celebrated every year on the 27th of September having highlighting the important role, tourism plays in preserving and promoting culture and heritage in all around the world.

Management & Science Institute (MSI) in Colombo a branch of MSU Malaysia recently held a press conference under the theme of “How to Develop the Pettah Floating Market as a Tourism Hub”

It was organised by the students of the Faculty of Hospitality & Tourism Management at MSI, with the objective of creating awareness among general public, entrepreneurs and authorities on the potential of the floating market and steps we can take to overcome the challenges faced by the traders in order to generate more revenue and employment opportunities towards the industry and bring it back to being a Tourism Hub in Sri Lanka.

The Pettah floating market is a recent development in Bastian Mawatha, officially opened in the year 2014 with the objective of getting tourist attraction by selling local products and local handicrafts. Alternatively, another key objective of this initiative was to relocate unlicensed street vendors off the footpaths, particularly in congested areas like Pettah, where they had no facilities and were forcing the pedestrians to use middle of the road to travel. Once the structure was completed, most of the streets in Pettah were cleared of street hawkers and there were given these spaces for shopping stalls. But they had to pay a rent, unlike before,

including spaces within the pagodas, little wooden huts, and spaces within boats permanently moored to the platforms.

While initially the floating market was filled to the brim and extremely crowded. But within few months the situation was changed due to several hidden factors. So those reasons were properly outlined by the students of MSI during the press conference. As they have realised Traders are criticising the open nature of the stalls and boats, which restrict their ability to secure their goods overnight. Some visitors, meanwhile, are somewhat put off by the occasionally smelly water, which can become overly malodorous especially during the heat of the summer. So, lot of malfunctions are there to be discoursed before the development of floating market.

The forum was graced by an eminent group of keynote speakers including senior academics, industry professionals & entrepreneurs namely Dr. Piyavi Wijewardhana, Mr. Maxime Wickramasinghe, Mr. Ruwan Rathnayake, Mr. Suranga Tennakoon & the Director MSI Mr. D.S. Peiris.

Contributing to the forum Key note speakers Dr. Piyavi Wijewardhana, insisted in differentiating Sri Lankan floating market from others by focusing on the unique values of the Sri Lankan culture such as the high spiritual power that foreigners preserved Sri Lankan people to possess with the win on the battle of Covid 19. He made suggestions to sell Ayurvedic drugs and Yoga treatments which are niche markets that could attract the foreign tourists.

F u r t h e r M r. M a x i m e Wickramasinghe, highlighted the importance of positioning the Sri Lankan floating market as the hub of “Street Foods” which can be emphasised as an upcoming concept of all around the world. During the Panel discussion on the topic of the pollution on the Beira lake Mr. Maxime encouraged and challenged everyone to be presented to change the view towards the environment, to take small steps and to take a stand as that is the only way we can reduce the pollution and create a better environment for the generations to come.

Commenting on the Return on Investment ( ROI) Mr. Ruwan Rathnayake highlighted the operational expenditure of the project.

As a final note Mr. Suranga Thennakoon, emphasised the importance of forming a committee to handle the affairs and issues of the floating market. He stated that though it may not be an easy task, that it is the best option to overcome the issues of the floating market. So that experts can come together and work towards the reformation of the Sri Lanka’s floating market as it can be made as an eminent tourist hub in Sri Lanka.

Concluding the session Mr. D.S. Peiris outlined the entire programme and stated that the results of the study will be handed over to the relevant authorities.

All the panel members and invitees appreciated the Students of hospitality and Tourism management programme for choosing this topic and their social contribution toward the development of Sri Lankan Travel , Tourism and Hospitality industry.

All MSI programmes are directly administrated and accredited By Management & Science University ( MSU) Malaysia. MSU is 544th QS world ranked University and recognised by more than 40 Universities worldwide including those in the United Kingdom, USA, Australia, New Zealand, Japan and many more.

Through MSU Malaysia, MSI gives the priority to quality ed ucation and the importance of creative teaching methodologies towards pro ducing quality and holistic graduates. Besides incorporating international exposure in students’ learning expe rience, extensive industrial training components and personal enrichment competency elements are also blended into the programmes of study to ensure graduates’ employability. MSI graduates remain a popular choice among employers, with higher employability rate for its graduates entering the workforce.

MSI currently offers diploma programmes leading to the Bachelors (Hons) Degree through MSU. These include: Hospitality & Tourism Management Biomedical Science Forensic Science Business Management Event Management Accounting, Investment Management Human Capital Management Industrial Management

Pathways

MSI students are given many valuable choices to complete their Bachelors ( Hons) degree either MSI in Sri Lanka or MSU Malaysia or MSU’s partner universities worldwide including, Australia, UK, Japan and Germany.

For more information about MSU & MSI programmes kindly contact Management & Science Institute , on enquiry@msi.edu. lk telephone Tel: 011 257 6900 / 011 257 6700 Hot line 077 0777 880, or visit MSI at No 300, Galle Road Colombo 03. www.msi.edu. lk or www.msu.edu.my