Private sector unhappy with govt’s management of tourism fund – industry expert

The Chairperson and Managing Director of Jetwing Travels Shiromal Cooray expressed that the private sector within the tourism industry is dissatisfied with the government’s management of a fund contributed by private entities for the industry’s development. 

Joining Ada Derana’s current affairs program, ‘At HydePark’, she suggested that the fund could be better utilized and could be used to hire a public relations agent to promote the industry globally and effectively manage information that could affect tourism.

When asked about the status of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) within the industry, Cooray stated that SMEs should prioritize creating business plans and developing financial management skills to build resilience against crises in the sector.

Commenting further, she added: “...There’s a levy...a fund that has been collected. Most of it has not been spent over the last couple of years. We’re not happy about the government’s utilisation of the fund. We’ve been pushing... We’ve been making a lot of noise, but unfortunately it has not happened... We can only hope that the current government, because we have to work with the government in power... We are still living in hope.”