Tourism industry goals:

Lanka could harness full potential with new attractions - Study

Ramani Kangaraarachchi

The Pathfinder Foundation (PF) has made several recommendations to authorities to harness the full potential of tourism in Sri Lanka by increasing tourist inflow up to 2 million per annum.

The Foundation’s Executive Director Lakshman Siriwardena told Daily News Business that North-Western beaches offer a lucrative opportunity for developing tourism in Sri Lanka and this could successfully be done by having a joint package with the Maldives tourism. “Under this package, tourists could spend a few days in Sri Lanka to enjoy variety and move to the Maldives to enjoy seclusion.

Eastern beaches offer the best opportunity for this joint tourism operation and beaches on the Eastern and North-Western side should be developed as a tourist attraction,” he said.

The Foundation recommends that the implementation of the international airport construction project in the South and identify the possibility of expansion of the Air Force landing facility to serve as a domestic airport.

Siriwardena said Sri Lanka does not use the sea resources for tourism but many countries have tapped sea resources by having Safari boats and cruise ships to take tourists into the sea and offer them a unique experience. “Therefore it should be added to the range of tourism products as there is no threat from terrorists any more.

Ferry services also can be used to transport tourists from Negombo to down south tourist destinations. This could avoid the cumbersome land route and congested Colombo city, if they are transported straight from Negombo to their destinations by sea ferries.

The advantage of such sea ferries is that they can be used to offer even to local people who wish to travel to coastal towns between Kalpitiya and Galle,” he said.