Cabinet nod for 3 year global tourism push; $ 15m for the first 2 years

Friday, 21 February 2014 04:19 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Long awaited destination marketing strategy backed by the government finally obtained Cabinet nod yesterday putting in place the foundation for a three year plan with a budget of US$ 15 million for the first 24 months. Recognizing the importance of maintaining competitiveness in the tourism market the Cabinet paper submitted by Economic Development Minister Basil Rajapaksa acknowledged the need for a comprehensive and well-coordinated strategy capable of targeting emerging markets quickly. Therefore the new program will concentrate primarily on China, India, South Korea and Russia. “Sri Lanka Tourism has decided to implement a comprehensive mega promotional campaign for 2014 and 2015 with a budget of US$12.5 million, which can increase to US$ 15 million. The campaign will cover all tools available in the markets including social media.” The Cabinet paper obtained by Daily FT went onto say the customary procurement mechanism advocated by the Public Finance department was too cumbersome and time consuming to enable the destination marketing strategy. Therefore the approval process has been divested to the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau, which in turn has to get Cabinet approval for a Standard Procurement Committee (SPC) that will also be supported by the Technical Evaluation Committee selected by the SPC. The SPC will be tasked with selecting services on the marketing campaigns with each programme having a funding platform up to Rs.250 million. The SPC will be composed of Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau (SLTPB) Chairman Bhashwara Gunarathna, Economic Development Ministry Procurement Division K.E. Dilrukshi, SLTPB Acting Finance Director Nilantha Fernando and a representative of the Treasury Secretary. The SPC has also been tasked with presenting an update on the marketing campaign’s progress to Cabinet every six months. (UJ)

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