The New Tourism State Minister Arundika Fernando last week claimed that the Rs. 4.5 billion allocated for Sri Lanka tourism promotion was underutilised.

“Sri Lanka Tourism received Rs. 4.5 billion for promotional activities, but unfortunately only 70% has been used for marketing initiatives. The Ministry gets $5 from the Airport Embarkation Tax and 1% of turnover of restaurants and hotels as Tourism Development Levy for promotional work of Sri Lanka Tourism, but these funds have not been used properly,” he said after assuming duties last week.

Fernando also suggested that in the future if there is any excess money in the Budget, it would be utilised to alleviate poverty and support small-scale players in the industry rather than sending it back to the Treasury.

 “Around Rs. 1.5 billion has been sent back to the Treasury without using it for productive marketing activities,” he said.

The State Minister also questioned the effectiveness of the extended TV campaign on CNN, which he claimed was not widely watched in key source markets.

“I was told that Sri Lanka was promoted in the UK taxi service as well as in tube stations with pictures, but it’s not visible or effective. They haven’t conducted proper marketing initiatives,” Fernando alleged.

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