Sustainable Tourism Development Project – World Bank

The Government of Sri Lanka envisions building tourism as an industry playing a significant role in the economic advancement of the country whilst preserving the country’s cultural values, ethos and its rich natural endowment. In view of the recent policy reforms to develop the competitiveness of the tourism sector in a sustainable manner, the World Bank has agreed with the Government of Sri Lanka to provide assistance for the implementation of the Sustainable Tourism Development Project (STDP). The Financing Agreement for this Project between the Government of Sri Lanka and the World Bank was signed on 8th November 2010.

The overall objective of the STDP, which is in line with the Government’s vision, is to strengthen the institutional framework of the tourism sector and to facilitate environmentally and socially sound tourism investments. The Project which spans over a period of 4 years covers funding under three components as setout below:

(i) funding to improve the overall efficiency and efficacy of the institutional framework of Sri Lanka Tourism,
(ii) provide essential highly localized tourism related infrastructure services in the East,
(iii) improve and extend the product content and supply chain of the small and medium entrepreneurs (SMEs) related to the tourism industry.