New Sri Lanka tourism policy in the making
A new Sri Lankan tourism policy is in the making and will be announced after the next parliamentary election, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said on Wednesday night.Speaking at a dinner at the Cinnamon Grand organised by Hemas Holdings to welcome the chairman (Bill Heinecke) and CEO (Sri Lankan-born Dilip Rajakariar) of Minor International, which owns a string of hotel brands including Avani and Anantara, the Premier said the policy will contain a 'few surprises". Providing some clues as to what it may contain, Mr. Wickremesinghe said Europe should be Sri Lanka's main source market by region while not ignoring India and China. Wherever Europe goes, China and India follow, he said explaining his understanding of the global tourism market.
Europe as a region is still Sri Lanka's source market while India is the single, largest source with China set to beat the UK into second place this year.Announcing that another hotel school would be set up alongside the near 50-year old (launched in 1966) Sri Lanka Institute of Tourism and Hotel Management (formerly Ceylon Hotel School), the Prime Minister said Sri Lanka was selling itself cheap and advocated going upmarket.
Mr. Wickremesinghe, who had been busy over the past 48 hours wrap- ping up crucial constitutional amendments in parliament which clips the powers of the president, said the new amendments provide for an expanded Sri Lankan cabinet in the next parliament with parliamentary sanction even though there is a restriction of 30 members.
He said that an expanded cabinet is inevitable in a national government of two main parties and parliament has authority to sanction any increased number.