Sri Lanka anticipates increasing female participation in the tourism industry opening avenues for both the country in earning foreign exchange and mitigating unemployment among the country’s female population, The Daily Morning Business learnt.
Speaking to The Daily Morning Business yesterday (5) Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA) Chairman Priantha Fernando stated: “When you look at unemployment and female participation in tourism, it is at a very low level. Whereas the global participation in the tourism industry is 55- 60%. In Sri Lanka, it is less than 10%.”
Accordingly, increasing female participation is one of the main objectives that are to be achieved in the 10-year tourism policy which is to be unveiled by the Ministry of Tourism and Lands in the second half (2H) of this year.
He added that this is an area where the media can play a major role in increasing female labour participation, pointing out that “perceptions, mindsets, and the influence of elders are preventing females from joining the tourism industry”.
A recent research paper published on “Women in Hospitality: Challenges Amidst Covid-19 Global Pandemic,” stressed that “in Sri Lanka, female enrolment in hotel schools is disturbingly insufficient. In the sense of a rising sector and the country’s still low female labour force participation rate, these numbers do not forecast well, which is 33.6% compared to 73% for male employees. Male employees exceeded women in all occupational groups within the hospitality field of Sri Lanka, except for guest relations and front office employees and a certain amount of marketing functions.”
Fernando noted that a similar perception with regard to females joining the apparel sector was changed over time.
Referring to the to-be-introduced tourism policy, he highlighted the need for a policy with regard to any sector of any country, stating that certain questions need to be addressed, such as “What are we going to do?”, “How are we moving forward?”, “What are our expectations for the industry?”, etc. when formulating guidelines for the specific roles within the industry.
He reiterated that there will be inter-ministerial and inter-department involvement, with the roles clearly defined.
Fernando refrained from making a comment to The Daily Morning Business when queried about when the Cabinet paper in this regard would be presented to Parliament, citing that the policy is expected to be subjected to many amendments prior to that.
Tourism is one of the major means of foreign exchange income to the Sri Lankan economy. Meanwhile, during the first five months of 2023, the tourism revenue was $ 827.8 million according to the latest data from the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL).
The Morning
