SLTE 2021 Awarding Ceremony Invites Army Chief as Guest of Honour

‘Sri Lanka Tourism Expo (SLTE) 2021’ at Beira Lake & Ocean Avenue in One Galle Face complex culminated in an impressive awarding ceremony on Sunday (21) evening where General Shavendra Silva, Chief of Defence Staff, Commander of the Army and Head of the National Operation Centre for Prevention of COVID-19 Outbreak has been invited as Guest of Honour.

‘Laya’ Chain of Hotels, owned by the Army and Sri Lanka Army Catering Battalion which had own exhibition stalls drew the attention of the visitors to the location as they went on showing their talents in live-cooking competitions, cocktail and mocktail competitions, dress the cake competition and cake structure competition and won several Silver and Bronze medals.

During the same ceremony, Brigadier Lalith Hewa, Chief Executive Officer at ‘Laya’ Safari at Palatupana, Hambantota was awarded an appreciative memento by the University of Colombo, Alumni Association of Tourism Economics and Hospitality Management (ATEHM) in recognition of his contribution to the hospitality industry as a guiding leader in the past 6 years as well as his academic inputs to the International Tourism Leaders’ Summit & Tourism Research Conference, launched by Tourism Study Programme of the Department of Economics at Faculty of Arts, University of Colombo.

In the same ceremony, Sergeant S.M.C.S Samaranayake of 2 Sri Lanka Army Service Corps won the Best Performer award in the Tea Mocktail competition, a novel addition to the arrangement.

General Shavendra Silva as Guest of Honour to the awarding ceremony of the ‘Sri Lanka Tourism Expo (SLTE) 2021’, themed on the ‘Way Forward Sri Lanka Tourism: Be Resilient and Sustainable’, joined distribution of appreciative awards to the achievers in the ceremony that got underway for a week (15 - 21 Nov) with a view to revitalizing the tourism industry which had been affected due to COVID-19 epidemic.

The ‘Sri Lanka Tourism Expo (SLTE) 2021’ that focused on possibilities for restart and recovery of this exchange earning industry expects to collect and share views, perspectives and practical approaches in order for industrialists to recommence their industry. The exhibition, opened by Minister of Tourism, Hon Prasanna Ranatunga on Monday (15) was also kept open to the location, adhering to health guidelines.

The welcome speech in the awarding ceremony was delivered by Professor Suranga Silva, founding Coordinator for Tourism Studies at the University of Colombo, Chairman of the ATEHM.

The arrangement was held in parallel to the UN World Tourism Day celebrations in the country led by the University of Colombo which has initiated pioneering tourism education sector in Sri Lanka for promotion of the industry to match with international standards.

Travel Agents, Tour Operators & Disaster Management Centre officials, officials responsible for Hotels and Accommodation, Tourist Attractions (Activity Providers & Other Stakeholders), Career Center - Studies, Jobs & Perspectives and Relevant Associations were associated with the arrangement which had 60 exhibition stalls.