Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority has lunched the National Sustainable Tourism Certification Scheme, together with the Global Sustainable Development Council.
A tree-planting campaign marked launching of the scheme along the Marine Drive in Colombo by the Authority.
This was the first step towards making the tourism industry sustainable with the technical and financial assistance of Biodiversity Finance Initiative (BIOFIN) of UNDP in mid-2018.
The first batch of 37 hotels have awarded the certification recognizing their impressive sustainable practices
Chairman of the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau, Kishu Gomes said that in order to sustain the tourism industry, a new value for the Sri Lankan tourism has to be developed.
He emphasized that Colombo needs a lot more green. “We planted a few trees and we are going to continue the exercise covering the entire stretch.
He noted that, they will be able to take a very strong message to the entire country in terms of the importance and requirement to build the tourism industry in a sustainable manner.
This project was designed considering the current importance given to sustainable tourism globally, and to successfully compete as a highly demanded destination.
The global context was considered in designing the project with the facilitation of the Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC) so that the certification will be relevant not only to Sri Lanka but also internationally.
A three-day sustainable destination management training program which commenced today will be conclude on 8 August for Government and Provincial Council officers and industry stakeholders.
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