Sri Lanka Tourism Chief Resigns Under Pressure, Then Warns of Industry Cartel
Photo Credit: Tourism has been Sri Lanka’s third-largest foreign exchange-earner in 2019. pixabay / vined mind
Skift Take
The Sri Lanka tourism chief’s resignation letter has enough warning signs for the country’s tourism industry. Now, if only someone is listening.
Mired in its worst-ever economic crisis with debts totaling over $50 billion, Sri Lanka may have to wait for some time to fall back on tourism to lessen the blow.
Kimarli Fernando, the Sri Lanka tourism chief, stepped down from her position on Tuesday following a resignation request from the newly-appointed tourism minister. But not before firing a strongly-worded resignation letter.
Fernando, who had been locked in a battle with the Sri Lanka Association of Inbound Tour Operators, hit out at what she calls is “a cartel of a handful of veterans.”
Among the many disagreements that she had with the inbound association, Fernando had objected to Thilak Weerasinghe, the association’s president, being on the government board for
