The rapid development in the tourism industry after the defeat of the LTTE was because of the new security in the country and the major infrastructure development work carried out by the government even during the harsh days of the war against terrorism.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa made this statement addressing the Tourism and Hotel Industry officials at Temple Trees yesterday (17 Jan).

An opinion making newspaper in the United States, the New York Times recently named Sri Lanka as the number one tourist destination out of 31 countries. Similarly, other respected Western publications have also named Sri Lanka as among the best locations for investment. This was underlined by the Colombo Stock Exchange being accepted as the second best stock market in the world today.

President Rajapaksa said that the government will continue to assist the tourism sector as it was done in the past. He requested the persons involved in the tourism sector to travel to the South and East of the country to view the infrastructure development in the transport sector such as roads and bridges, which will in turn develop the tourism sector as well as other sectors.

The meeting with the tourism sector officials was held at their request to obtain the views of the President on the development of the tourism sector.