Tourism Minister Prasanna Ranatunga chairs a special meeting of the Board of Directors of Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau along with officials yesterday

• Urges swift finalisation and rollout of three-month action-oriented tactical plan to woo tourists from UK, Germany, France, India and Russia, including Ukraine and Kazakhstan

Tourism Minister Prasanna Ranatunga yesterday directed the Board of Directors of the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau (SLTPB) to fast track the finalisation and implementation of the short to medium-term tactical plan to boost arrivals in the next three months.

The steps taken so far and issues revolving around early rollout of the tactical plan came under review yesterday when the Tourism Minister chaired a meeting with the Board members of the SLTPB along with Ministry Secretary and officials.

 The Ministry, Sri Lanka Tourism, SLTPB and the industry have recommended a short to medium term blitz to woo arrivals from five markets UK, Germany, France, India and Russia, including Ukraine and Kazakhstan, between now and January next year.

Minister Ranatunga had stressed that the tactical plan cannot be delayed and the SLTPB Board, comprising public and private sector representatives, must exercise its powers to overcome any bottlenecks or bureaucratic issues.

He directed SLTPB Board to come up with an action-oriented short-term promotional plan immediately to generate additional interest in the five identified markets.

“The aim of the SLTPB should be to attract more tourists to the country in the next three months. All the activities of the institution should be implemented based on this main purpose now that the country has successfully vaccinated over 60% of the population,” the Minister emphasised.

In the first nine months tourist arrivals amounted to 54,768 whilst in October so far nearly 16,500 tourists which is the highest for a month since the first wave of the pandemic.

Tourism Secretary S. Hettiarachchi, Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority Director General Dhammika Wijayasinghe, SLTPB Acting Managing Director Madubhani Perera, SLTPB Board Directors Bobby Hansen of Columbus Tours, Dileep Mudadeniya of Cinnamon Hotels and Resorts, Angeline Ondaatjie of Tangerine Tours, Nalin Jayasundera of Aitken Spence Travels, Chamin Wickramasinghe of Theme Resorts and Spas and Finance Ministry representative Anuradha Kumarasiri were among those who attended the special meeting.

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