Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA) together with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) is to launch the Marine Tourism Master pPan in mid May with the intention of sustaining Sri Lanka’s marine environment apart from marine tourism activities carried out, The Daily Morning Business learnt.
Speaking to The Daily Morning Business, SLTDA Director of Tourism Planning, Development and Investor Relations Dr. Prasad Jayasuriya said: “ We have completed the final draft of the Marine Tourism Master Plan while taking both stages into one road map for Sri Lanka which was completed and shared with the Steering Committee members about a week back.”
He pointed out that the Steering Committee has been given time of about 10 days to go through the plan and after that, they will have the final discussion with the steering committee members and the consultants to incorporate any of their views.
Additionally, based on the action points given by the Steering Committee, they have to come up with a management team and operational teams to implement those.
They should have the plan ready for launching and implementation with short-term, medium-term, and long-term action points identified and further, looking at the potentials of the marine, Jayasuriya added.
The Marine Road Map comprises two phases; the first phase covered the water bodies from Kalpitiya to the Down South of Trincomalee and the second phase encompasses the water resources from the northern region from Manner, Jaffna, and Mullative back to Trincomalee.
Moreover, the Marine Master plan also focuses on marine tourism development while ensuring the safety of the aquatic ecosystem. For instance, some marine activities such as dynamite fishing have become a threat to aquatic habitats and damage the potential resources.
Accordingly, the country is looking at being in certain regulations and protecting the water resources, and the second area is about how and what kind of tourism markets Sri Lanka needs to promote, the short-term achievements, gains the country needs to make and how they need to organise themselves as stakeholders and partners of the industry.
Jayasuriya stated: “The SLTDA is hoping to play the role of a facilitator and ensure that the tourism benefits are achieved through the roadmap, initially.”
