Tourism Minister Prasanna Ranatunga emphasizes that the Government’s main aim is to achieve the the people’s objectives and that the new Tourism Bill is being prepared in accordance with the views of those engaged in the tourism industry.

Accordingly, a period of three months has been given to obtain the views of those working in the field regarding the preparation of the new Tourism Bill, the Minister said.

The Minister stated this at a discussion held at the Tourism Ministry yesterday (10) with several organizations engaged in the field of tourism regarding the preparation of the new tourism draft.

“Cabinet approval has been granted to repeal the Tourism Act No. 38 of 2005 and introduce a new Tourism Act in Parliament. According to the Act, the entire tourism sector was divided into four major institutions as Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority, the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau, the Sri Lanka Federation Bureau, and the Sri Lanka Tourism and Hotel Management Institute.

It was suggested that the Act should be updated as there are negative effects such as delays and waste of resources in coordinating the relevant institutions.

Accordingly, it was proposed to merge the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority, the Sri Lanka Promotion Bureau, and Sri Lanka Federation Bureau. Different opinions popped up due to this” the Minister said.

The Minister said that more attention will be paid to minimizing the negative effects such as delays and resource wastage through the division of the tourism sector into four institutions.

The Minister also pointed out that the obsolete methodology is an obstacle to activate the tourism industry more efficiently and effectively.

‌Source: Travel Voice