Sri Lanka looks to establish tourism links with Goa

According to a report in the Times of India, Prasad Kariyawasam, High Commissioner of Sri Lanka, stated recently that there was an immense potential for promoting intra-regional tourism between Goa and Sri Lanka through joint ventures and initiatives at the government and private sector levels. Speaking at the International Centre in Goa, on the 'Quest for promoting Tourism between Goa and Sri Lanka', he said, "Goa and Sri Lanka are the stuff that dreams are made of - not only beautiful, but believable too - and yet, no real effort has been made so far to try to sell this dream jointly. Working together will help deliver this.”

Pointing out that both Goa and Sri Lanka have "historical and religious ties, similarities and differences,” Kariyawasam said that investors and tour designers could tap the same to boost not just visits of Goans and Sri Lankans, but also travellers from the rest of India and foreign visitors. Making a strong case for intra-regional tourism promotion, he said it could be a stepping stone for opening both destinations to international visitors. "Taking that route will gradually strengthen the capacity within the region to develop better structures and institutions that deal with tourism," Kariyawasam added.

Considering the size of India, Kariyawasam felt that strengthening Sri Lanka's existing links with Goa was a better option. The inflow of tourists to Sri Lanka after 30 years of strife was huge and accommodation was falling short of the demand, he said. "While investment in resort hotels and boutique hotels is welcome, we also want to upgrade small hotels and rest houses and construct large shopping malls, theme parks, and yacht marinas," said Kariyawasam. 

The High Commissioner said that the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau and Goa Tourism could sign a Memorandum of Understanding and include initiatives for visits by medical personnel and travel writers. Listing various possibilities, he said both could produce a guidebook jointly on Goa and Sri Lanka, publish an annual tourism events directory in advance to promote tour sales, and organize food festivals and cultural troupe exchanges.