would enable you to enjoy an array of other services such as Member Rankings, User Groups, Own Posts & Profile, Exclusive Research, Live Chat Box etc.. 
Home
http://www.thesundayleader.lk/2011/11/06/budget-boost-for-tourism/
Nalaka Godahewa is the chairman of Tourism Development Authority
Nalaka Godahewa is also the chairman of CLND which is associate with Kalpitiya beach resorts. Kalpitiya and Waskaduwa belongs to the REEF
Budget Boost For Tourism
Budget 2012 to be presented in Parliament later this month is expected to give relief to the tourism industry. This was said by Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority Chairman Dr. Nalaka Godahewa to reporters on Wednesday after it was brought to his notice the difficulty the industry is facing to build the necessary infrastructure due to rising costs. It is estimated that the cost to build a four star hotel room alone is Rs. 16 million.
An industry source told this reporter that as a result of those high costs no new investments are taking place in the East coast though there is land available. Except for a few top of the line hotels like those belonging to the John Keells Leisure Group, other industry players have been slow to invest in their product due to the island’s previous debilitating 26 year old terrorist war which hit tourism and which only ended two years ago.
As such to take advantage of the post war tourism boom in the island there is a need for the industry to spend on infrastructure development, which however is affected due to the high costs involved in such investments coupled with high borrowing costs. Relief is also expected in the sphere of electricity tariffs to the industry which is currently a hybrid between industry and commercial rates. Government of Sri Lanka plans to attract 750,000 tourists by the year end and 2.5 million by 2016.
Sri Lanka Association of Inbound Tour Operators President Nilmin Nanayakkara said that this year’s target would be met. He also expected the current winter season to witness a 30% year on year (YoY) growth in tandem with the growth the industry experienced in the first nine months of the year of 30.1%, but much lower than the previous winter’s growth of 46.1%.
One of the chief reasons for this slowdown is due to the recessionary fears in the West on account of the euro debt crisis. The industry’s cash cow is also the winter traffic from the West. Though India from a country perspective is the source of the highest number of tourist arrivals to the island, from a spending and from a “stay” perspective, the tourist from the West easily surpasses his Indian counterpart. The Indians who come here for shopping are low budget tourists, staying for a mere three days, whereas the Western tourist wintering here, generally stays in star class hotels for a minimum of 10 days.
Nalaka Godahewa is the chairman of Tourism Development Authority
Nalaka Godahewa is also the chairman of CLND which is associate with Kalpitiya beach resorts. Kalpitiya and Waskaduwa belongs to the REEF
Budget Boost For Tourism
Budget 2012 to be presented in Parliament later this month is expected to give relief to the tourism industry. This was said by Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority Chairman Dr. Nalaka Godahewa to reporters on Wednesday after it was brought to his notice the difficulty the industry is facing to build the necessary infrastructure due to rising costs. It is estimated that the cost to build a four star hotel room alone is Rs. 16 million.
An industry source told this reporter that as a result of those high costs no new investments are taking place in the East coast though there is land available. Except for a few top of the line hotels like those belonging to the John Keells Leisure Group, other industry players have been slow to invest in their product due to the island’s previous debilitating 26 year old terrorist war which hit tourism and which only ended two years ago.
As such to take advantage of the post war tourism boom in the island there is a need for the industry to spend on infrastructure development, which however is affected due to the high costs involved in such investments coupled with high borrowing costs. Relief is also expected in the sphere of electricity tariffs to the industry which is currently a hybrid between industry and commercial rates. Government of Sri Lanka plans to attract 750,000 tourists by the year end and 2.5 million by 2016.
Sri Lanka Association of Inbound Tour Operators President Nilmin Nanayakkara said that this year’s target would be met. He also expected the current winter season to witness a 30% year on year (YoY) growth in tandem with the growth the industry experienced in the first nine months of the year of 30.1%, but much lower than the previous winter’s growth of 46.1%.
One of the chief reasons for this slowdown is due to the recessionary fears in the West on account of the euro debt crisis. The industry’s cash cow is also the winter traffic from the West. Though India from a country perspective is the source of the highest number of tourist arrivals to the island, from a spending and from a “stay” perspective, the tourist from the West easily surpasses his Indian counterpart. The Indians who come here for shopping are low budget tourists, staying for a mere three days, whereas the Western tourist wintering here, generally stays in star class hotels for a minimum of 10 days.
