Sri Lanka is a beautiful island filled with many resources and a nation that has opened up many avenues and opportunities especially in the tourism and the Events industry. In the global summit organized by the United Nations Development program, the focus was on providing emphasis on innovations for human development. The main objective of the participation in the summit was to promote the nation towards becoming a high income earning country like Japan and Singapore by 2030. As per the World Bank classification, Sri Lanka is classified as a lower middle income country between the ranges of $1036 to $ 4045. The touri sm industry is one of the largest Sectors in Sri Lanka, which plays a key role in the economy with an estimated 1.5 million people relying directly or indirectly on the tourism sector (Srinivason et al. 2012). It is t he third biggest contributor that has the answers for the growth of the country as a whole in the future. The Tourism and the event industries have a very important relationship linked to each other at present. The event industry has progressed promisingly over the past decades. In the face of the recent events the decision taken and strategies chosen will define the future landscape of the industry and the society. It is stressed that we need to promote tourism and optimally utilized the opportunities available. MICE Tourism is an innovative concept used to derive good results in the event industry. The Sri Lanka Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions (MICE ) Tourism market is expected to reach US$ 285 million by 2025. (DPI Research,2019). So by 2030 MICE Tourism brings considerable benefits by implementing a scheduled program in this sector. As an example in terms of MICE, Sunday Easter terrorist attack created a negative image for the travelers when they were ready to visit the island for scheduled events. But amidst all the turbulence, as the host country Sri Lanka successfully concluded the Bohra Conference, Sri Lanka, the biggest of the respective community event. As the tourist travel report, 25000 visitors came to Sri Lanka from over 40 countries. As it was the largest conference it helped re-establish Sri Lanka as a safe destination. This shows the evidence of unbreakable connection established by the government towards the Event industry.
According to the Sri Lankan cultural festival coming from ages called the ‘Kandy Perehera’ (Procession) inspired by many local visitors and foreign visitors is held annually. But due to the pandemic, it was held without visitors’ participation but as a means of preserving the custom. One of the most important role is played by the media when concerning the event industry. Growing popularity in the social media networks like in Google, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn and also the state media extended the hands to promote the image of the future event industry in Sri Lanka. This has become a platform for the community building unity people with similar interest. At present, the main intention is focused on attendee experience to be enhanced.
The event industry has undergone a revamping by adapting to the virtual space in conducting events of various forms and has seen a material impact created on the society affirmatively. When considering the changes that has taken place in the event industry, it is important to align all tasks targeting to achieve the goals and objectives by 2030.
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