Sri Lanka wants Malaysians to invest in its tourism sector

The Sri Lanka government is seeking to attract Malaysian investors to its tourism sector as it targets 2.5 million tourist arrivals in 2016.

Sri Lanka tourism development authority director general S. Kalaiselvam said with the resolution of the civil conflict, tourist arrivals into the country had increased sharply and the number was expected to move beyond the average 500,000 visitors annually now.

“We are looking at investments coming into the country,” he told reporters after the “Visit Sri Lanka” presentation yesterday.

He said several tourism resorts and sites had been identified and there were 13 islands that would offer enormous potential for investors.

Kalaiselvam said at present the country had 14,000 rooms that could cater to 800,000 tourists.

However, to accommodate 2.5 million tourists, 50,000 rooms would be needed.

“We are waiting for the private sector to come in and invest,” he said.

He said that while two decades of civil war had put a lid on its tourism industry, now that the war was over, the industry was expected to thrive.

“We are confident of achieving our target in 2016. It is an achievable target. One third of the country which was previously closed to the tourism industry, is now open. We also have a low tourist base,” he said.

He also said Malaysia was one of its key target countries and Malaysian tourist arrivals had also been steadily increasing since July.

“In July there was a 28% increase (year-on-year), in August 34% and September 26%.

Looking at the trend, we are confident that we would be having an increase in numbers from Malaysia,” he said, without divulging any figures.

Source: www,biz.thestar.com.my