A proposal put forward by the Minister to set up a Tourism Authority and to prepare a Bill for the purpose to be presented in Parliament, has received the Cabinet approval at the Cabinet meeting held Wednesday.

The proposal aims at developing the country as a tourist gateway to South Asia.
The plan encourages individuals or groups in the private sector to participate in the promotion of tourism industry and training activities connected with the industry.

The government plans to improve services and facilities provided for tourists and promote Sri Lanka as a venue for international, regional and domestic conventions, meetings and exhibitions and sporting events.

The tourism industry has expanded significantly following the end of the three-decade long conflict in May 2009.

Sri Lanka's tourism industry has recorded US$ 370.1 million in revenues in the first half of 2011, a 50.9 percent increase over last year, and become one of the fastest growing industries in the country.

The government predicts arrivals to grow by 20 percent and hit a new record of over 780,000 this year. Sri Lanka expects to raise the number of arrivals to 2.5 million by 2016.