Sri Lanka to receive $10 Million Grant to uplift the tourism industry

The government information department said that Sri Lanka would receive a US$ 10.96 million grant from Korea to grow the tourism industry in the island nation. Heon Lee, Korean ambassador to Sri Lanka, has been quoted as saying the donation will be made available in 2020. The statement said $5.6 million would use to establish a community-friendly tourist village in the Matale District of Etanwala.

The remaining USD 5.36 million will earmark for the Kuchchaveli Tourism Area. The ambassador has quoted saying that after President Gotabhaya Rajapaksa took office, many high-level Korean business people are willing to invest in Sri Lanka to improve security.

Lee quoted saying that due to improved protection, Korean tourists would like to return to Sri Lanka, while visitor numbers had fallen following the Easter Sunday attack. Korean tourist arrivals to Sri Lanka dropped 22.6 percent in 2019 to 12,195 vacationers.

Earlier last year, The Embassy of Sri Lanka in the Republic of Korea in collaboration with Sri Lanka’s state investment promotions bureau, the Board of Investment (BOI), held an investment promotion program in Seoul on February under the Economic Diplomacy Programme of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Sri Lanka.

The program included an investment promotional forum titled “Investment Climate and Business Opportunities in Sri Lanka,” which was jointly organized by the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) and the Sri Lanka Embassy. The forum drew over 80 Korean companies involved in manufacturing, logistics, and warehousing, agriculture and agro-based products, tourism and leisure industry, infrastructure, and knowledge-based industries.

The government of Sri Lanka has already introduced an assistance package to the tourism sector. Given all these improvements, the country’s tourism industry is showing indications of revival. Many foreign investors have already voiced confidence in the country’s tourism industry, and it’s growth potential. Therefore, global businesses/investors could explore business/investment opportunities in Sri Lanka’s tourism sector.

OSL Take: Hence the newly appointment government aims to identify new attractions of the country for foreign tourists. Theme parks, religious, cultural, and national heritage sites, opportunities for adventure, attractive agricultural and forest sites, domestic Ayurvedic treatment centers will thus develop to attract tourists.

Priority will be given to provide investment and other facilities to the private sector to promote tourism on these lines. Possibilities to attract tourists to hold business conferences, festivals, exhibitions, seminars, and meetings in Sri Lanka will be utilized, using the facilities available, particularly in Colombo and Hambantota. The private sector will be facilitated to attract tourists for these purposes. The immigration and emigration process in Colombo and Hambantota airports will be made more efficient.

 Sri Lankan government has dedicated significant resources towards the uplifting tourism industry in Sri Lanka and has shown an increasing commitment to engage with the critical stakeholders in the private sector in the tourism industry. Sri Lanka’s tourism authorities have launched advertising campaigns to attract visitors to the country at the back of the setback faced by the tourism sector following the Easter Sunday attacks.

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