Respected marketer and business personality Rohantha Athukorala who was the seventh Chairman of Sri Lanka Export Development Board and only Chairman to serve the EDB for over five years post being head of the institution supported the industry in taking the export revenue from 6 billion dollars to 11 billion in his tenure has been appointed as the Chairman of the Sri Lanka Tourist Promotional Bureau (SLTPB) by Minister for Sports and Tourism, Navin Dissanayake.

Athukorala commenting on the task ahead said, “Given the vibrancy of the private sector the 2 million visitor arrivals can be achieved”. We are targeting the UK market to generate a 190,000 from the current 144,168, Germany to be 150,00 from current 102,977 whilst France to be 100,000 visitors from the current 78883 just to name a few.

The economic instability in Russia is worrying given that almost 69,718 tourists was generated from this market he said.

Being a professional marketer, Athukorala is a twice winner of the “Best Marketer” award in Sri Lanka when he was the Marketing Manager for ‘Dettol Brand’ at British multinational Reckittbenckiser where he served for over twelve years and he went on to secure the ‘Best Global Project’ award for Sri Lanka in his five year tenure at the United Nations (UNOPS).

Commenting on the regime change Athukorala’s view was that the immediate challenge was to win back the confidence of the public sector and there by unleash the talent of the public sector which to his mind was way above the private sector given that most of the employees in the government are first class honors graduates.

What is required is strong leadership, he said.