The four chairmen of the national tourism organisations stepped down from their posts last evening.

Mirror Business reported yesterday that Tourism and Christian Affairs Minister John Amaratunga will be appointing new chairmen during the course of the week.

The heads of the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau, Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority, Sri Lanka Conventions Bureau and Sri Lanka Institute of Tourism and Hospitality Management were appointed in January but it was left unsaid that they would be only active for the interim election period this year.
However, some of the recently stepped down figures are attempting to seek reappointment while some leading industry figures are also in the running for the coveted posts.

Sources said that they expect new appointments to take place by Thursday or Friday to ensure smooth operations.

Amaratunga is attempting to create a new tourism master plan for 2015-2025 with the aid of key industry stakeholders, unlike the ad hoc, arrival figure-based plans of the past regime.

To that effect, he aims to appoint a Tourism Advisory Committee.

Sri Lanka’s tourism identity has had eight changes since the turn of the century, giving evidence to the lack of policy direction.

The industry is now at crossroads with some stakeholders calling for the increase of arrival figures while some others are asking for sustainable development and another portion calls for the attraction of high spenders. (CW)