ADB approves $100 million loan to boost Sri Lanka tourism
MANILA: The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a $100 million loan to support Sri Lanka’s tourism sector through strategic policy reforms and targeted catalytic investments aligned with the country’s National Tourism Policy.
The Sustainable Tourism Sector Development Programme comprises a concessional loan of $70 million and a regular loan of $30 million. The project will support sector governance improvements, enhance private-sector participation, boost tourist arrivals and foreign-exchange earnings, and address infrastructure gaps while strengthening product development and high-end destination marketing.
The ADB said the programme will back policy and institutional reforms across governance, asset management, tourism promotion and marketing, skills development and digitalisation, and sustainable tourism and urban development in two major tourism destinations.
The programme will promote diversification by developing untapped tourism areas, including marine tourism, opening up new destinations, increasing tourist stays and spending, and creating an enabling environment for greater women’s participation in the sector.
Although Sri Lanka’s tourist arrivals in 2025 returned to 2018 levels, ADB Country Director for Sri Lanka, Takafumi Kadono, said earnings have remained below pre-pandemic levels.
“Through appropriate policy and institutional reforms, infrastructure enhancements, and improved sector resilience against internal and external shocks, tourism can become the engine of inclusive economic growth,” he said.
By RSS/Xinhua
