Sri Lanka state hotel school starts franchise program with 35 institutes
Sri Lanka Institute of Tourism and Hotel Management is starting a franchise program with 35 participating training schools to develop tourist sector staff targeting families on income support, officials said.
Sri Lanka is expecting 3.0 million tourists in 2025 and has a medium-term target of 5 million, SLITM Chairman Dheera Hettiarachchi said.
The tourism industry will need 800,000 staff when it expands to 5 million arrivals and now has around 421,000 workers in formal hotels, he said.
The ‘Hotel Operations Multitasker Program’ is designed as an NVQ Level 3 qualification approved by the Tertiary and Vocational Training Authority.
The hotel school is teaming up with the Department of Samurdhi Development to identify and train members of families receiving income support. The program will help move people out of the program, officials said.
Education is the best way to escape poverty, Secretary to the Ministry of Social Security Sampath Manthrinayake said.