Sri Lanka Ecotourism Foundation


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Key Contact Person of SLEF
Palitha Gurusinghe
President, Sri Lanka Ecotourism Foundation

Palitha, Sri Lankan, secured his first degree and the Post-Graduate degrees from the University of Ceylon (presently University of Kandy), the foremost and prestigious University in Sri Lanka. He started his career as a teacher in high schools and Universities in Sri Lanka from 1970-1979. Since 1979, he has been actively occupied in Sri Lanka Tourism holding top management positions.He has been working as a Tourism Consultant for the , Ministry of Tourism , Sri Lanka Tourist Board , Japanese Bank for International Corporation (JBIC), German Technical Cooperation (GTZ) and several other public and private sector organizations. Presently, Palitha is the Managing Director of Sri Lanka Eco Tours, a model travel agency dedicated to promote genuine ecotourism programmes in Sri Lanka.

Palitha is the founder President of Sri Lanka Ecotourism Foundation (SLEF), the pioneer National Ecotourism Society of Sri Lanka that was established ten years ago. At present he is the Director of the Research and Training Institute, managed by Sri Lanka Ecotourism Foundation. He is also a Member of the Faculty of Tourism Studies, Sabaragamuwa University of Sri Lanka and a Visiting Lecturer in Ecotourism at the Travel and Tourism Institute of Sri Lanka. Lakes.. is also the current General Secretary of the Association of Small and Medium Enterprises in Tourism Sri Lanka (ASMET), the pioneer SME Tourism Association in Sri Lanka. He is a well-known travel journalist in Sri Lanka who contributes regularly to the print and electronic media. He is the author of many research papers in Ecotourism and the Editor of journals, news letters of eco and sustainable tourism. At present he is the Coordinator for the Advisory Panel on Community Based Tourism, set up by the Ministry of Tourism, Sri Lanka.

During last ten years, he pioneered in promoting Community Based Ecotourism in Sri Lanka and worked hand in hand with other like-minded ecotourism organizations in South and South East Asia promoting Community Based Tourism Projects.

He is also one of the key partners of the South-South Professional Exchange Programme sponsored by the Fredskorpset International, Oslo, Norway.

Vice Chancellor of the Sabaragamuwa University of Sri Lanka (SUSL) Prof. Rohana Mahaliyanaarachchi has appointed Palitha Gurusinghe, President, SLEF, as an External Board Member of the Faculty of Management Studies of the Sabaragamuwa University of Sri Lanka for the term of 3 (three) years, commencing from November, 2007. Sabaragamuwa University is the only university in Sri Lanka conducting various tourism related degree programmes focusing on ecotourism and sustainable tourism.