Sri Lanka must overcome the challenge of terrorism and develop into a leading global ‘niche market’ holiday destination, Tourism Minister Milinda Moragoda said in Parliament on Tuesday.

While accepting that terrorism has an adverse impact on tourism, Minister Moragoda said countries like Israel had successfully warded off such threats and promoted themselves as wholesome tourist destinations.

Speaking during the committee stage of the budget debate, Moragaoda said the government could learn from the experiences and strategies of other countries in overcoming the challenges of terrorism, and promote Sri Lanka as a leading ‘niche market’ holiday destination.

“When there is terrorism it clearly affects tourism. But many countries have faced the challenges of terrorism and moved ahead. We too must face the challenge of terrorism in this manner”, he said.
He added that the government would create investor confidence and develop infrastructure in the Eastern province, for tourism development. “We have land in the East. We now need to build infrastructure and create investor confidence in the region” he said.

The Minister stressed that Sri Lanka needed to look at what it had to offer the world, in terms of tourism as a product. “We must not be a destination for mass tourism but promote ‘niche tourism’. The product of tourism in Sri Lanka must be developed to cater to this” he said. As such, the main sectors earmarked by the Ministry for development next year are eco-tourism, domestic tourism and promoting the country as a Buddhist destination for Buddhist countries, he said.

Minister Moragoda also noted that the tourism sector was currently dominated by a few ‘big players’, but next year the government would focus on creating growth in the small and medium scale tourism sector. He stressed that domestic tourism provided the building blocks for development in the sector, citing India and China as examples, adding that this too would be developed next year.