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Promoting sustainable tourism: Sigiriya/Yala to become eco-friendly tourist destinations 

05 Aug 2021

 
  • Cabinet paper on plastic-free zones soon 
  • SLTDA to assess and approve projects based on sustainability
  By Dinitha Rathnayake  Sigiriya and the Yala National Park are being developed as Sri Lanka’s first eco-friendly, sustainable tourist destinations, which will forbid the use and disposal of plastic. Accordingly, Sigiriya and its surrounding areas are expected to be declared as an eco-friendly tourism zone without the use of plastics, while the Yala National Park tourist zone is expected to be an eco-friendly, safe, and protected area without the use of plastics. Tourism Minister Prasanna Ranatunga expects to submit the relevant Cabinet paper to the Cabinet of Ministers soon. The Tourism Ministry and the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA) are working to achieve the sustainable goals of the tourism sector, the Minister said.  “As tourists pay close attention to the tourist destinations they travel to, it is essential to maintain the relevant destinations in a more attractive and eco-friendly manner. It also has a strong impact on the demand in the tourism sector,” he noted. If this plan is carried forward with, the SLTDA intends to conduct sustainability evaluations before issuing licences or granting approval to tourism-related projects. It also seeks to make the approval mandatory before construction work begins on such projects. The Minister also said that more attention will be paid to sustainability when granting approval for tourism investments moving forward, and that proposals related to future tourism projects will need to be submitted for approval in accordance with the sustainability guidelines. Ranatunga also said that an internal unit for sustainable tourism promotion and development will be established in the SLTDA in the future to assist in this regard.


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