Better coordination for SAARC tourism emphasised
Rasika Somarathna
COLOMBO: The second working group meeting on tourism of SAARC
countries takes special significance this year since 2006 has been
declared by the heads of SAARC States as "South Asia Tourism Year".
The working group will review the progress of the projects agreed
upon at the last meeting and re-formulate a plan of action to be
implemented in the years ahead.
The inaugural session of the second working group meeting on tourism
of SAARC countries took place at the Taj Samudra Hotel yesterday.
Dr. P. Ramanujam, Secretary to the Ministry of Tourism said: "South
Asia has great potential in tourism. It can play a significant role in
the economic development of the region."
"Collective endeavours would take us on the right path. This is ideal
for us to review our work and maximise opportunities to promote South
Asia as a viable destination to international and inter-regional
tourists," Dr. Ramanujam said.
Director SAARC Secretariat Amjad Hussain speaking thanked the
Government for arranging the meeting and emphasised the need for better
co-ordination between SAARC countries. The development of infrastructure
and joint tour packages should be used to maximise potential, Hussain
added.
"In the last calendar year there had been 800 million tourists
worldwide who had spent $ 600 billion, which means a daily expenditure
of $ 2 billion. As you can see the potential is enormous. The SAARC
region only gets a fraction of this mammoth amount at the moment so we
have to plan to maximise our resources with a collective and aggressive
programme," Chairman SCCI Tourism Council Pradip Madhavji said.
Madhavji praised the Sri Lankan Government's initiative to have a
separate counter at the airport to issue visas for travellers from SAARC
countries and appealed to other countries to follow suit. He appealed to
all member countries to consider common driving licences for all
countries. "We have to improve air connectivity in the region and
formulate new policies regarding visa approval," Madhavji said.
Madhajiv further added: "We have to use our common culture, history,
food and sports to attract tourists to the region, whether it is Sanath
Jayasuriya or Rahul Dravid, people would come a long way to watch these
entertainers. We have to use these mega sports figures as ambassadors to
bat for tourism." |