Sports revenue to reach US$ 1 bn within five years: Namal

Sports will be made a US$ 1 billion revenue-generating subject within the next five years, said Minister of Youth and Sports Namal Rajapaksa.

He was speaking at the launch of the Lanka Sportreizen organised Open/National Surfing Championships which will be held on September 26 and 27, at Arugam Bay.

The Minister said that his plan to convert Sri Lanka Sports to a US$ 1 billion includes the local manufacture and export of sports equipment, sports apparels, and services to the world.

He is also said that hosting water and adventure sports events can also woo high spending tourists to Sri Lanka and hope to work with the Ministry of Tourism in this regard. “It will also be a good destination marketing tool for Sri Lanka.” He also said that professionalism should be introduced to sportsmen and women.

“Today parents specially in rural areas consider a child taking to sports as a burden to the family. This should and will be reversed. The sportsman in a family should not only bring honour to a family but also revenue. The fabric in sports will be changed in this manner,” he assured.

He also said that professionalism would be introduced to sports bodies as well and they will also look at the financing aspect of sports associations.
Lanka Sportsrizen is a leading Destination Management Company in Sri Lanka which has been in the forefront of promoting Tourism through Sports and Adventure has organised the event.

“In fact, we were planning with the World Surf League to conduct a similar event in September in the East which did not happen due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 Pandemic which brought Worldwide activities including tourism and sports to a standstill, said Chairman LSR Tilak Weerasinghe.

He said this event is organised in order to revive both sports and tourism on the advice of Namal Rajapaksa, Minister of Youth and Sports, who himself is a keen surfer.

This event will be conducted with the blessings of the Ministry of Youth & Sports and the Surfing Federation of Sri Lanka to coincide with the World Tourism Day which falls on September 27.

This Event is expected to reawaken the interest that the sporting fraternity has on surfing since the period from January 2020 has not seen any event taking place in the Eastern Coast of Sri Lanka due to the spread of the COVID-19 virus. Furthermore, stakeholders in the Eastern Province who have been starved of business with the break of the virus will be able to sigh a relief about the future of their livelihoods with the conduct of this event.