John promises to double tourist arrivals in 2019

John A.E. Amaratunga, who was sworn in as the Minister of Tourism Development and Christian Religious Affairs yesterday, assumed duties at the Ministry – Pix by Lasantha Kumara 

• Concedes 2018 target of 2.5 m may be missed due to travel advisories 
• Hopes no fresh obstacles will pop up, will proceed with Strategic Plan 2020 
• Says will ensure Wildlife and Tourism work closely as complimentary sectors

By Charumini de Silva

Re-appointed Tourism Development Minister John Amaratunga yesterday said they would proceed with the original Strategic Plan 2020, while expressing confidence of achieving a target of four million arrivals and $5 billion in revenue next year.

“We will go ahead with our original Tourism Strategic Plan 2017-2020 outlined by the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA). Our estimate for next year is nearly four million tourist arrivals and $5 billion income,” an upbeat Minister, who was also assigned the additional portfolio of Wildlife, told journalists while assuming duties at the Ministry in Colombo yesterday.

He also said they hoped to promote home-stays, where small-scale businesses would receive some share of the benefits from tourism to uplift their livelihood and rural economy.

Amaratunga’s optimism of Sri Lanka achieving 2.5 million tourist arrivals for this year may fall short of target due to the adverse travel advisories that were issued by some of the countries as a result of the political crisis experienced since 26 October.

“We had estimated tourist arrivals of 2.5 million for the year, but because of this political situation we heard that there were some cancellations due to the travel advisories that went out from different country ambassadors stating that Sri Lanka is not a safe destination. 

I intend to meet the Ambassadors soon and convince them Sri Lanka is now normal and we still have authenticity, diversity and security for all the tourists who are coming here,” he stressed.

Whilst full year data for 2018 is expected early next month, tourist arrivals in the first 11 months rose by 11% to 2.08 million. The original target for 2018 was 2.5 million tourists. Earnings from tourism in September rose 2.8% to $276 million year-on-year, with cumulative earnings amounting to $3.2 billion, posting 11.2% growth during the first nine months of 2018, the Central Bank said in its latest External Performance Report.

In 2017, Sri Lanka recorded its all-time high of 2,116,407 in 2017, posting marginal growth of 3.2%, while tourism revenue rose by a similar percentage to an all-time peak of $ 3.63 billion.

Amaratunga also reiterated that there was no other country in the world which could offer a travel experience like Sri Lanka in a compact island.

The Minister however said that to accommodate four million tourists next year, it was important to get the support from all the officials in subject ministries and from the four boards that are functioning independently.

“I pray and hope we will be able to go forward without any further obstacles or disruption from any quarter,” he added.

Amaratunga also said that these two ministries (Tourism and Wildlife) could work closely to develop the tourism industry in a more sustainable manner.

“The two ministries goes very well and closely. Wildlife is one diversity we can offer in Sri Lanka. Hopefully I can continue in that and if I do so, that will be an additional advantage for tourism promotion,” the Minister quipped.