By Harischandra Gunaratna

Tourism industry veteran M. Shanthikumar was elected to head The Hotels Association of Sri Lanka (THASL) following his appointment as the President of the association on Thursday at THASL’s 56th anniversary celebrations held at Taj Samudra.Shanthikumar takes over the leadership from Mount Lavinia Group Chairman Sanath Ukwatte whose term ended.

Addressing the anniversary celebrations, Shanthikumar said: “The hotel sector investment in Sri Lanka is by far the highest in the Tourism Industry estimated to be over 15 Billion USD. Further, 70% of the entire Tourism workforce is employed by the hoteliers in the country. Our member hotels and companies continue to spend a large unt of money annually to maintain the plants, for continuous training of staff and for overseas marketing and promotions striving to increase destination arrivals. The highest contribution to the Government coffers are made by the hoteliers.

In terms TDL payments, taxes, levies and all other charges. No one can deny the dominance and the contribution the accommodation providers in the country make to the Tourism industry.

“The hoteliers are already burdened with a series of top line taxes and levies. The topline social security contribution of 2.5% is definitely adding to the burden. We have been without revenues for nearly 18 months still continuing to maintain the employees and the hotels. The industry will lose its competitive edge in marketing the destination with such taxes and there is no doubt it will affect the anticipated tourist arrival growth in to the country.

“Being an industry with dollar earnings we need the Govt to consider exempting the Tourism Sector from the Social Security tax of 2.5% on the total revenue at least until such time we see the Tourist arrivals stabilizing to the country. This is absolutely critical,” he said.

Shanthikumar counts over four decades of experience in the tourism and hospitality industry and has been a catalyst in driving some of the key initiatives implemented for the betterment of the sector.

Earlier this month he stepped down from his role as President of Colombo City Hotels.

Shanthikumar has been part of the leadership team of THASL for over a decade. He has held the position of Director/CEO of Global Towers Hotel, Global Investment, Global Lanka Hotels and a Director of Ocean Edge Hotel. Shanthikumar has also served as Acting Chairman of Sri Lanka Convention Bureau.

Commenting on the appointment of the veteran as head of THASL, the Sri Lanka Association of Inbound Tour Operators (SLAITO) said it is looking forward to working together to uplift the tourism industry during the ongoing challenging period.