The proposed policy reversals by the new Minister of Tourism, Nandana Gunatilleke, may eventually result in Sri Lanka losing a massive Rs 2 billion facility agreed by the World Bank for capacity building in the institutions under the ministry, a government source said.


The Rs 2 billion facility had been granted following intense negotiations by the then Minister of Tourism, Milinda Moragoda with the President of the World Bank.


Highly placed government sources said that the industry’s stakeholders are perturbed by the latest developments, where World Bank officials had unofficially hinted that they may be compelled to withdraw the facility in the event of reversal of reforms introduced under the Tourism Act of 2007.


Industry sources told the Daily Mirror FT that Ministers could come and go, but the policy and the related objectives must remain unchanged for the industry to make any progress. They pointed out that tourism is a massive industry which generates nearly three billion dollars daily in the global market. Sri Lanka too could reap these benefits, if the tourism industry is directed in the correct path with the objective of obtaining speedy results.


According to industry sources, the new Minister has brought in new faces, getting rid of more experienced and experienced persons, to promote his agenda in tourism. Such changes may not augur well for the industry. Ministry sources said, however, that it is a routine exercise to change officials heading various institutions when a new Minister takes office, emphasising that the changes will in no way affect the private public sector partnership. There were fears that the partnership may already be under threat because of the policy directions of the new Minister.


“Though Sri Lanka is one of the few places in the world which could provide diverse attractions for tourists, the market has not been developed to reach its full potential. We need to develop new market strategies. An entirely new approach is needed to tackle the problems facing the industry,” a market leader told the Daily Mirror FT. He added that “the defeat of terrorism, which had plagued the country for over three decades, has now afforded us a unique window of opportunity. Unfortunately, progress has been very slow, and this is causing much anxiety in the industry. He said that the global recession had caused its share of problems for Sri Lankan tourism. Tourist arrivals fell drastically with many airlines reducing and rescheduling their flights; many tourists opted to travel within their own countries and so cut down on expenditure. However, he stressed that Sri Lanka now has to invest in global awareness campaigns, reintroducing the country as an attractive destination free of violence and terrorist activity. Such campaigns will have the capacity to attract new markets which have hitherto not been tapped.