“Because of events like this,” he said, “Sri Lanka will get more popular and make tourism the number one development area.”

The Tourism Leaders’ Summit took place at BMICH on Friday and Saturday. The minister explained how international conferences expose Sri Lanka to global ideas and drive the evolution of the tourism industry.

“A number of new tourism conventions are coming up,” he said, adding that “next year, we are also having a conference, which will also comprise 5,000 international heads of state and delegates.”

The Tourism Leaders’ Summit was host to 20 experts from countries including India, China, the UK, the US, and Australia.

To highlight the summit’s diverse thoughts, the minister was preceded on stage by two international speakers: Audrey Kitagawa, Chair Elect of the Parliament of the World’s Religions and Trustee, and Akvile Pareigyte, founder of Volt Lab-Regional Google Trainer.

“The huge resource that exists within the realm of communities of faith had long been recognised as an untapped and important resource,” said Kitagawa. She said that rather than seeing faith as an impediment to development, “if you want to make a modicum of change, you work with the leaders and the community leaders of faith. So communities of faith become important vectors for the programmes that we want to unfold.”

Paregie took a different perspective to the factors of tourism development, starting off her speech with contemporary realities of global tourism.

Around the world, more people are using their mobile phones or tablets to book their flights, hotels, and other tourist packages. In India, she said, 87 percent of customers are comfortable using mobile phones throughout every stage of the booking process. In that vein, “53 percent of customers will abandon a mobile site if it takes longer than three seconds to load,” she said. “So, if your site doesn’t load in three seconds, you will lose half of your potential business.”

Paregie highlighted the significance of developing technology and tourism simultaneously.

Source: http://www.dailynews.lk/2018/10/09/local/164881/tourism-summit-highlights-need-digital-platforms