The Government plans to establish a national sports and events calendar and create a Destination Management Office to strengthen Sri Lanka's sports tourism sector, following discussions between Tourism and Sports Ministry officials.
Sri Lanka's Tourism and Sports Ministries have agreed to collaborate on developing sports tourism as a significant component of the country's travel industry. Deputy Minister of Tourism Ruwan Ranasinghe announced the partnership following a meeting held on August 7, where officials from both ministries discussed strategies to position the nation as a competitive destination for international sporting events and festivals.
The collaboration will involve creating an official calendar documenting sports and festival events scheduled throughout the year. Government officials also agreed to establish a transparent and streamlined approval mechanism across relevant institutions to facilitate event organization and reduce bureaucratic delays in the approval process.
A key component of the initiative involves establishing a Destination Management Office (DMO) to consolidate sports tourism operations under unified management. According to officials, the DMO will be provided with necessary financial and institutional resources to improve coordination of sports tourism activities and ensure more efficient delivery of services.
The meeting included participation from Deputy Minister of Sports Sugath Thilakaratne, Additional Secretary to the Ministry of Tourism S. I. L. Naseer, Sports Ministry Secretary Aruna Bandara, Sri Lanka Convention Bureau Chairman Dheera Hettiarachchi, and Western Province Tourism Bureau Chairman Mahesh Priyadarshana, among other senior officials from both ministries.
