Steps to develop adventure tourism and training in Sri Lanka

As part of the National Plan to develop the Sri Lankan Tourism Industry, The Ministry of National Policy and Economic Affairs and the Policy Development Office (PDO) of the Prime Minister’s Office is assisting the Tourism Industry standardize and develop adventure tourism and training in Sri Lanka which is an emerging sector with potential to expand.

Under this initiative, the working group on Skill Development with the assistance of industry stakeholders and NAITA, TVEC and SLITHM has developed the National Competency Standards (NCS) and National Unified Curricula (NVQ Level 4) for adventure tourism and skills development with a view to providing recognition and quality training.

Accordingly, SLITHM with the assistance of TVEC, NAITA and industry stakeholders have developed the curriculars for following occupations,

1.   Watercraft Operator (Paddle Boat)
2.   Watercraft Operator (Personal Watercraft)
3.   Trekking/ Hiking Guide
4.   Ground Control Agent
5.   Parachute Rigger

The first batch of trainees will start at the end of August 2018 for Trekking/ Hiking Guide and Parachute Rigger at SLITHM. The Policy Development Office of the Prime Minister’s Office would like to invite all the interested institutes to register with Sri Lanka Institute of Tourism and Hotel Management (SLITHM) in order to facilitate and provide resources to conduct practical training for the above relevant occupations.

The Policy Development Office (PDO) of the Prime Minister’s Office together with Sri Lankan Institute of Tourism and Hotel Management (SLITHM) recently initiated a proposal to establish an advisory committee in order to monitor, standardize and expand the skills, knowledge and competency of the stakeholders in the Adventure Tourism sector.