Tourism Development and Christian Religious Affairs Ministry Secretary Esala Weerakoon has been appointed the Acting Chairman of the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau (SLTPB) and all the tourism promotion activities including the global and the digital campaigns will go on without any change, said Tourism Development Minister John Amaratunga.
He said that the former head of the SLTPB had to be removed since he was dilly dallying with the promotional activities and delaying the program to promote the destination and woo visitors to the country.
“There was a need to make an effective change in the promotional sector for the betterment of the industry. We are targeting 2.5 million visitors this year and if everything goes well this will be an easy task,” the Minister said.
Regarding the time to go for a sudden drastic decision the minster said, “New promotions should be connected with digital promotions as the tourism industry has become a digital based industry now. We need to add value to our industry with digital based promotions platform,” he said.
When asked whether the move politically motivated, the Minister responded in the negative and added that the decision was taken for the betterment of the industry.
However, former SLTPB Chairman Udaya Nanayakkara said that he had not tendered his resignation although he does not go to office.
“I received the letter which was badly worded to resign on January 8 and on the following evening I cleared my desk and left office. However, I have not given my resignation,” Nanayakkara claimed.
However, according to the minister the stage is set to launch the digital and global campaign to achieve the target envisaged this year. The digital promotion campaign is expected to be launched within next two to three months while the global campaign which is awaiting approval from the Cabinet would be launched next month.
The minister said while the industry is focusing on the global market it is also keen to tap the Indian and Chinese markets which are promising and has vast potential to drive the industry.
“We have lined up a series of events such as the IRONMAN 70.3 and the arrival of the FIFA World Cup Original trophy on January 23,” the minister said.
The international leg of the FIFA World Cup Trophy will kick off in London on January 22 prior to visiting 51 countries on all continents. The trophy will return to Russia in May.
An Ironman 70.3, also known as Half Ironman is one of a series of long distance triathlon races organized by the World Triathlon Corporation.