Spending power of tourists to be increased

Shirajiv Sirimane

DUBAI: Sri Lanka is expecting to increase the spending power of each tourist from the present average of US $ 84 per day to US $ 130 soon, Sri Lanka Tourist Chairman , Renton de Alwis said.

The Sri Lanka Tourist Board (SLTB) is also looking at increasing the total earnings from the industry from US $ 549 million to US $ 600 by the end of the year. He was averaging around US $ 64 until the Visa on arrival policy was introduced. This policy opened new avenues to woo more Indian tourists, which have remained to be the highest arrivals to the country.

He said the main reason for the drop of 15 per cent of arrivals last month was due to the decreasing number of NGO workers who were in the country in large number dealing with tsunami work last year. "This negative trend will not continue," he said.

The SLTB has also decided to pay attention to non-traditional markets such as the Gulf, which was virtually ignored before on President Mahinda Rajapaksa's directions. "This is why the Ministry is investing Rs. 24 million for the promotion of the Arabian Travel Market being held in Dubai untill May 4" he said.

"The MICE sector is another area the SLTB wants to invest in the future. This would also bring in more revenue as on most occasions family members too would visit the country," he said.

The Mahinda Chintana has also identified the Kalpitiya tourist development project as a priority and over 70 per cent of the land acquisition has been completed, Tourism Minister's Additional Secretary George Michael said.