Sri Lanka is ranked among the Top Ten Fastest Economies, being eighth in the world according to the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) of United States. As the global economy would emerge in the recession, it is envisaged that Sri Lanka would record a 6.3 percent GDP growth rate that is second only to China, which will record an 8.6 percent in the Asian region.

‘In times of economic strife it’s heartening to see our country doing so well. We must not rest on our laurels and strive to do better and bigger things. Sri Lanka Tourism contributes enormously to the economy and that contribution will only increase over the next decade’ Eranga Basnayake, Chairman of the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau said.

With the current political stability as well as the opening of the North and the East to Tourists, Sri Lanka Tourism is estimating nearly 15% of the Sri Lanka population will benefit from Tourism industry. The government is keen on achieving this and this features high on the list of long term priorities.

There are several projects in the pipeline that will serve as an impetus to propel this venture. The projects have all been streamlined into the biggest ever tourism venture in Sri Lankan history – Visit Sri Lanka 2011. This colossal project has been launched with a series of projects that are lined up for 2011. The project was kick-started with the New York Times and the Daily Candy Washington D.C declaring Sri Lanka as the No: 1 Spot for Holiday makers.

The ‘Visit Lanka 2011’year will help Sri Lanka Tourism in putting a foundation in place in order to achieve the target set by H.E. the President to bring in 2.5 million visitors to Sri Lanka by 2016. An arrival figure 765,000 is projected by 2011 and to cater to this, Sri Lanka Tourism is using unique marketing and communication tools to lure in tourists to the country through Product Development, Promotions and Communication.

The marketing activities lined up to launch this project will be spread out over this year and will lend to an improvement of the economy by the end of the 2010 by which time the world will emerge from recession and post crisis economic landscape will become clearer. This will pave the way to achieve a higher growth of about seven to nine percent in the medium term, said the Ministry of Finance and Planning, quoting the EIU.

It is estimated that the oil prices will average at about US USD 74-80 per barrel for the period of 2010-2012. Currently the Sri Lankan stock market is ranked second-best in the world. With these positive signs coupled with political stability and higher capital, financial inflows will take forward the sphere of economic prosperity.

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