ECONOMYNEXT – Sri Lanka has seen some improvements in night time economic activities, but more steps need to taken to attract tourists, State Tourism Minister Diana Gamage said.
Gamage, since became the State Tourism Minister, has promoting night time economic activities to create more options for foreign visitors into the island nation.
“Well I think so far I have achieved when it comes to the night time tourism,” Gamage told reporters at a media briefing on Monday (29) in Colombo.
“It means street foods, bars which are being kept opened because now wine stores are opened till 10 o clock in the night instead of 9 o clock. Restaurant bars are allowed to be opened till 2 in the morning specially in the five-star hotels. But previously everybody had to shut at 11 o clock all the bars everywhere.”
The idea is to improve the tax revenue through night time dining and entertainment, particularly from excise duties.
The State Minister in the past had said regulations on nightlife should be relaxed to drive economic activities and provide entertainment options to tourists, particularly in beach areas, which could be major attractions for visitors.
“Also the street food where if you walk out now, you will see a lot of places they still very late in the night till 1, 2 in the morning that carry street foods in the area where tourist move around,” she said.
“Things are happening when it comes to night economy. You can see this in the down south where you can see a lot on concerts and event and things like that take place. Hopefully we will change eventually.”
Gamage had emphasized the need for flexibility in entertainment hours to accommodate varying cultural norms and preferences to recognize the importance of extending entertainment hours and enhance the overall tourism experience with an aim to attract more visitors to the country.
“Actually we should have more open events like concerts, we should have malls and shops opened till very late in the night, because people like to do shopping in the night,” she said when asked for her future plans to increase night time economic activities.
“If you go to Singapore, we know there are shops opened till late in the night. If Sri Lanka is a tourism hub, we have to have them. I could prefer to have it 24 hours.” (Colombo/April 29/2024)