Sri Lanka President pushes new tourism strategy for 2026

A discussion on the 2026 Pre-Budget proposals for the tourism sector was held yesterday afternoon (August 29) at the Presidential Secretariat in Colombo, under the patronage of President Anura Kumara Dissanayake.

Speaking at the meeting, the President said that promotional programmes alone would not be enough to achieve the tourism targets set for 2026. He stressed the need for a new strategic programme to be jointly implemented by the public and private sectors.

The President also invited entrepreneurs to invest in converting President’s Houses and Ministers’ official residences in locations such as Nuwara Eliya, Anuradhapura, Mahiyanganaya and Kataragama into comfortable holiday resorts aimed at attracting foreign tourists. He further announced that a formal programme in this regard will be launched soon.

During the discussion, business leaders raised concerns about the shortcomings and challenges currently faced by the industry. The President encouraged entrepreneurs to submit their proposals to strengthen and advance the tourism sector.

Among those present were Secretary to the Ministry of Finance Dr. Harshana Suriyapperuma, Senior Economic Adviser to the President Duminda Hulugamuwa, Senior Additional Secretary to the President Russell Aponsu, Chairman of the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority Buddhika Hewawasam and Chairman of the Export Development Board Mangala Wijesinghe, together with several private sector stakeholders and business representatives.