The volume of exports by small and medium scale enterprises will be increased by enhancing their visibility through the ‘Made in Sri Lanka’ online portal, said National Enterprise Development Authority (NEDA) Chairman Anushka Gunasinghe at the Western Province Entrepreneurship Awards ceremony 2020 recently.The awards ceremony conducted by NEDA and the National Chamber of Commerce of Sri Lanka was held at the BMICH on March 10.“We will enlist the micro, small and medium sector enterprises in the website this year enabling them to showcase their products and services and compete in the global market,” Gunasinghe said. Despite the immense contribution made by the SME sector to the economy its exports are yet around 10-12 percent.
largely relaxed the stringent measures restrict ing public life enabling foreign tourists to enjoy a holiday.
In comparison, Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA) records show that in January 2021 only 1,682 tourists arrived in Sri Lanka while a year ago in 2020 – 228,434 international tourists spent their holidays in Sri Lanka, which is 99.3% drop over a year.
The steadily increasing migration patterns of Northern European populations to South Asian regions, typically motivated by social and economic factors and the search for a better climate and a better quality of lifestyle is an opportunity which Sri Lanka should make use of to attract this segment to the country. The trend to take up semi-permanent residence in another country has further increased with the growing economic problems in Europe and other countries. Sri Lanka could embark on catering to these tourist migrants by offering “Sri Lanka – My Second Home” solutions.
The Government already has put in place an attractive Residence Visa package with their program “Sri Lanka - my Dream Home” which permits applicants of the age group of over 55 to stay in Sri Lanka on a long-term renewable residence visa to become tourist migrants. Sri Lanka’s private sector is realising the great potential in moving into a permanent tourism program for foreigners above 55 with ventures to build apartments and condominiums.
Another advantage in permanent tourism relates to a one-time only marketing effort for the sales of the apartments while traditional marketing to promote the hospitality sector in general needs frequent and permanent repetitions with attendance of foreign tourism fairs on a yearly basis. The costs on these marketing efforts are immense and often not rewardable.
‘Permanent’ tourism refers to being a more settled and denoting a longer-term commitment to the destination, whereas ‘tourist’ has connotations of a more temporary movement from everyday life to a different location. Second home ownership of an apartment does well include marketing to attract more visitors to Sri Lanka, since the owners are looking for revenues out of renting their own apartments to third parties.
It is now time for the SLTDA to