COLOMBO: Renton de Alwis, former chairman of Sri Lanka Tourist Board (SLTB) has been re- appointed as chairman. This is the third occasion he has held the position.
A former vice-president Asia of the Pacific Asia Travel Association in Singapore, de Alwis resigned from the SLTB in March 2002 citing political interference.
Continuing differences with Tourism Minister, Gamini Lokuge, climaxed when the minister allegedly sent the passport of a party supporter to de Alwis with a request that the supporter be sent to the ITB travel trade fair in Berlin.
De Alwis said that the ITB job was for a marketing person and refused to accede to the minister’s request.
One of de Alwis’s first tasks will be to attend this year’s ITB and promote Sri Lanka in the face of consumer resistance to a destination that is still weighed down by perceptions of a country that has yet to sort out its differences with the Tamil Tigers.
In his previous stint as SLTB chairman, de Alwis had to manage the July 2001 aftermath of the terrorist attack on the Colombo International Airport.
This time around, the challenges are no less daunting.
