Allocated budget as pcr action plan : Rs. 983,570,775.00Available Budget : Rs. 283,000,000.00Budget Line: "Global Advertiei*g

Prcduct Development on "Taking Tcurirrn To illy Villsgen i* Nuu$ara Ellya District

l. Backgruund:

According to the World Tourism Organization, Tourism in Villages is growing three times faster than

the haditional toudsm industry. This implies the alreacty ctranging phenomenon occunng !ntraveling. Similarly, the World Gonseruation Union goes one step further in defining ecotourism to

include *njoying and appreciating nature, have low negative visitor impact, and providing socio'economic involvement to the local populations" As ecotourism is growing, it is also focusing on

eepecially vulnarable locations to climate change. However, 'Tourism in Mltages' will be mostpopular in vulnarable environments; it may unintentionally explait the community causing a serious

socialjurtic* issus. The idea of cemmunity ecotouri*nn is placing the tourism activities in the handsof th6 local comrnunity. lt addresees tht needs of the tou*sm businesses to nninimize negativeimpacts and maximire positive impacts in all three parts of the community, social, aconomic &

environmental.

Cor*mun*tyhu,sting thetrv{'tich GArtknowledse,

ecotouilsrn resolves one issue with scotourism in particular, the input of the cornmunity

tourlsrn. Government and autrside lnvestors may push communities into hosting tourists

sometirnes cause rnore harm if the conrmunity ia not prepared without relevantleadership, or caPacitY.

,Taking Tourism To My Village' entails .responsible iravel to natural areas that conserves the

environment and improves the well-being of local people" while providing an alternative form of

travelto mass tourism. Mass tourism is the idea of visiting a place with minimal responsibility to the

lccal community and environmenl. Iorfsm, the world's largeat industry of more than t0% of totalemployment and 1 1o/o ol global GOF, is also a rapid*y growing industry as total tourist trips are

predicted to increase to 1.6 billion by 2020'. ln order to accomrnodate these rising needs, thers

Wmusl be a shit within the touriEm industry. One in particular is the need to protect the environmenl' and respecl the local culture.

'Taking Tourism to My village', concept.|ust does that, as they are tha f*llowing:,t To minirnize impact{ Euild environrnenlaland culturatawareness and respectr' Provide pesitive experiences for both visitors and hosts/ Provide direct financial beneflt for conservationr' Provide financial benefits and empowerment for localpeople'/ Raise sensitivity to host locations'political, environrnental, and social climateConsidering the importance of the above, a field inspection visit conducted for the periodfrom 3d to 08th of June 2015 in order to select viable projects which should fulfill theguidetines of the .TTTMV' project in Nuwara Etiya District and there are 16 projects (AnnexA-3:ealdo@nder'TTTMV' ) were @d,sn ano the estimated cost-lgf each proiects-_ry_e.Iq estimated by mrsetf (lnqil@o*

1L19j9 -1!!h9lg[:!?

not have technical background of esiim,ating saich: projects. Furtherit was tognO tfratlfrEownership of some selected areas ar6 belongs to some government authorities as well asprivate properties like historical temples & Hindu Kovils and it is suggested to get theconlributions from such govemment authorities when implernenting such related projectsconsidering the economic benefitE getting by them when contributing for same projects bySLTPB. (Annex B: Generat Concept Design for whole project)

2. Rationalel Justlficatiom

Nature of the tltfcrk I Proc*ssr

Endorsement of tho prqjects selected underthis projec{s by the respectivegovernment authorities in the projed areae and also by the ownership of theprojec{ lands

Re-evaluate the estimated project cost by tie professionaltechnical personrecommended for such evaluations

W. Selection of implernenting agencies to carry out the projecte through properselection procedures

Signing of contract with such implementing agencies selected for each projeots

. Commencement of the projects as per the proiect proposals has been developedfor eaoh projects

r Monitoring of the projecte by the Minietry of Tourism & $ports & SLTPB by theaseigned office$ relating to such projects

Conducting of community awareness programmes for the local connmunity, relatedauthorities in the area

. lmplementing a continues rnonitoring system by the assigned agencies

Benetlts fsr $LTPB & $rl Lanka Tourism:-r Promote the exlsting lesser known attraction places among foreign & dornestic visitors. Provide visibility for international llocal travelers on leeser known attractions in the country.

r Tourism traffic diversion fiom main strearn attractions to enhance carrying capacity.. lmprove positioning of tourism businesees that ara regirtered with $LTDA (based on their

Iocations to various attractione in the country).r Multiple usage of the content wtrich is cornplied on atractions i.e. Web partals, Destination

Management $ystem {DMS}, Mobile Applications etc.r Integrating local businesses with nationaltouriem economy (encourage investom to find

proparties for tourism related investment opportunities).. To provide information as the OfficialGovernment Source related to tourism and acquires

content to populate the proposed "Sri Lanka Tourism Data Warehouse".

r Develop itineraries for the newly identified assets through tour operators to encouragetravelers to visit these new attractions.

r More beneficial by local community those who are livlng nearby tourism attrac*ion sites inthe target areas

#

r lnfrastr-ucture devetoprnent in the c,ountryI Encourtsgirug trccal comn'lunity to be invo[ve with tourisrn* f,reate msre incoms earflfngs oppsrtunit*es for the focal

Cost Hstima.te

related hueiness

corfimunity

The estimated breakdown cost for the 16 s*lected projects are as follows:

Estimated Total Budget

(Rs.)

63,200" c00.00

Sontri butisn frunn F*IIn ietry*f Taurisrn & $poffis & $LTFB

{Rs.}

46,700,000.00

Expect*d contribwtionfrorn otfuer Govt.Agemuies

{Rs.}

,I 6,500,08{1"00

nu**l a.V_

Total Estimated contribution by the Minlr!ry$Toud*ra & $port* & $LTpts

4. Proposed Board lilinutsBoard approval is sought:

1. to implement the above project.TTIMV, through proper procurement process2' to incur estimated cost of Rs. 50,0@,000.00 (46,700,000.0CI for the above projec.ts & Rs.3,300,000.00 for other *xpenses) subject to the tinancial contributions allocated for the

respective government authorities as perAnnex A

to utilize the fund frorn $LTpB for the said 16 projeets as per Annex Ato utilize the funds through a proposed mechanism by the Board of Management by applyingproper procedures to implement the projects

5' to nominated suitable authority or authorities to ie-evaluate the project cost since theestimated cost done by the SLTPB official who does not have technical experience in thisnature

6' to nominate a suitable officer or officers representing relevant organizations for each projects

3.

4.

to nominate a *uitable officer from $LTPB & Ministry of Tourisrn & $ports to monitsr physicalpart of the projects

to nominate a suitable officer from SLTFB & Mlnistry of Tourism & $ports for financialmonitoring of the projects

Prepared by lftdra;ith De $ilvaDirectarfDSR-SLTPB rou*o**unm*u nr rrluJuur",rni p*r*i*Director Marketlng, $LTFB

*

,ti {.+,{;t

Fresmntm lffi GfijanayakeMan,aging Di $LTPH

Examined by N.G SayarathnaDirectot Finance* SLTPB

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