Sri Lankan tourism industry:

Construction boom expected

Shirajiv Sirimane in London

A construction boom is expected in the tourism industry with over 23, 000 new star class hotel rooms expected to be constructed in the next five years. In addition over 3,000 rooms would be refurbished or upgraded.

Minister Faizer Mustapha

This is to meet the projected 2.5 million tourist arrivals by 2016 for the ‘Visit Sri Lanka’ program. Today Sri Lanka offers 12,000 rooms and the Kalpitiya Tourism Zone is expected to offer 5,000 new rooms within the next two years. “We have called for international tenders for five islands and the response has been very good,” said Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA) Chairman Bernard Gunathilake.

Speaking at the international launch of the ‘Visit Sri Lanka 2011’ program at the Excell Exhibition Centre Monday night he said that already one investor, Dutch Bay Resorts have started construction for an up-market hotel. Kalpitiya would be an up-market destination similar to the Maldives resorts and no high rise hotels would be allowed, he said.

“Already, 60 overseas investors had visited the Eastern Province and they carry positive sentiments,” he said.

The Tourism Promotion, Minister Faizer Mustapha said that Sri Lanka is aiming to attract one million tourists by the end of 2011 from its current average of 4,000. The industry also hopes to bring in US$ 800 million in two years to the country increasing its earnings from the current average of around US $ 350 million. The average spent by each tourist per day will be increased to US $ 130 (currently around US $ 80)

He said that due to the 30 year conflict, Sri Lanka was marketed as a cheap destination and now the country could attract high spenders.

“This was one reason we intervened to bring a gazette notification to introduce the ‘Minimum room rates’ to city hotels,” he said. Commenting on the Sri Lankan participation at the WTM he said that the event not only focuses on the British market but also on the markets of 200 countries, and therefore investments made for it are highly returnable. The Minister also said that this is the first major exhibition Sri Lanka is participating after the end of the war and the response is overwhelming. He also thanked the tour operators who stood by Sri Lanka during troubled times.