The Government recognises the multiplier effect of tourism development in creating employment opportunities and distribution of wealth through a variety of economic activities predominantly in the SME sector, taking the advantage of SMEs being able to link micro enterprises from one side and large scale corporate sector on the other side.
Some of the key objectives to be achieved through the 5 year strategy are as follows:
1. Increase tourist arrivals from 650,000 in 2010 to 2.5 Mn by 2016.
2. Attract USD 3,000 Mn as Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) to the country within 5 years.
3. Increase the tourism related employment from 125,000 in 2010 to 500,000 by 2016 and expand tourism based industry andservices all island.
4. Distribute the economic benefits of tourism to a larger cross section of the society and integrate tourism to the real economy.
5. Increase the foreign exchange earnings from USD 500 Mn in 2010 to USD 2.75 Bn by 2016.
6. Contribute towards improving the global trade and economic linkages of Sri Lanka.
7. Position Sri Lanka as the world’s most