4th Tourism Leaders’ Summit next month
View(s):The fourth consecutive Tourism Leaders’ Summit (TLS) and International Tourism Research Conference (ITRC) will be held on October 4-5 at the BMICH Colombo.
Organised by the Alumni Association of Tourism Economics and Hospitality Management (AATEHM) and the Students of the Tourism Study Programme of the Department of Economics, University of Colombo, the event will be held parallel to the official celebration of the UNWTO World Tourism Day in Sri Lanka.
The TLS and ITRC have been part of the World Tourism Day celebrations since 2015 with President Maithripala Sirisena gracing the previous year celebrations. This year, the focus of the event will be on “Integration of Global Value Chains for Sustainable Tourism Development”.
The comparative and comprehensive analysis on the application of current tourism strategies in Sri Lanka, more specifically “Tourism Strategic Plan (2017-2020) – A Story of Untapped Potential” will be carried out with the contribution of industry practitioners, public policy-makers, community organisations, international experts and eminent academics/researchers, under the guidelines of achieving the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals.
High-level representatives from UNWTO, ambassadors from tourist-originating countries, academics, corporate and industry leaders will be among the speakers while presentations of research papers and panel discussions with high academic value will be included in the programme. Over 1500 participants from travel and tourism practitioners, researchers, academics diplomatic representatives, media personnel and students of the tourism study programmes are expected at this event.
As the premier state run academic body, the Alumni Association of Tourism Economics and Hospitality Management of the Department of Economics, University of Colombo has taken the lead in the past three years in organising celebrations of the United Nations World Tourism Day at the national level in association with the Ministry of Tourism Development.