Govt. to fast track tourism investment

By Uditha Jayasinghe
With tourist arrivals expected to hit historic heights in 2012, the Government is fast-tracking new hotel projects around the country to meet room demands, a Minister said yesterday.

Acting Economic Development Minister Lakshman Yapa Abeywardana told media that at least 2,500 new rooms needed to be added this year to facilitate the one million tourists expected.
“Tourism grew by 30.8 per cent in 2011 and even though we targeted 750,000, the year ended with over 850,000 arrivals. For 2012 we have targeted 950,000 and if the current trend continues, then we will have over a million tourists for the first time in history,” he said.
However, the industry does not have sufficient rooms at the moment and will need to fast-track construction projects in the pipeline.
Abeywardana remarked that 210 investment proposals had been submitted to the Government, of which 92 had been approved. The Government expects an investment of Rs. 106 million from the smaller hotel projects.
“We need to encourage investors to get their projects off the ground and complete them quickly,” he said, pointing out that the Government hoped to attract 2.5 million tourists by 2016 and therefore needed to start on the necessary infrastructure now.  
Shangri-la, Hyatt, Sheraton and South Africa’s Sun City have large scale projects planned in Sri Lanka, but these are expected to take till 2013 or longer to be completed.
To bridge this need, the Government is also planning on setting up a new tourism zone in the Eastern Province and opening the area to foreign investors. He also said that plans were afoot to upgrade and extend tourism facilities in the northern part of the country.
Sri Lanka’s Eastern Province is famous for pristine beaches, unspoiled landscape, whales and snorkelling. At its southern point Arugam Bay is world famous as a surfing destination and has hosted several global competitions since the war ended in 2008.
Pasekudah, also in the Eastern Province, has already been designated as a tourism zone.  The Rs. 6.5 billion (about US$ 60 million) tourist development project is expected to open by March 2012, containing 14 new hotels with a combined room capacity of 931.
Vakarai has been earmarked for a tourism zone, the Minister revealed, adding that the fishermen had been allocated a separate area to continue with their livelihood.   
“The Government will continue to work at provincial level to develop tourism and reduce harm to the environment,” he insisted, saying that this year would see more luxury resorts springing up around the country.
The Ministry has already rehabilitated the Unwatuna beach and removed illegal construction without harming livelihoods. Opening of the Southern Highway has also increased tourist traffic and Abeywardana expressed hope that additional expressways would funnel visitors around the country.