In order to advance the tourism sector of the Northern Province to the next level, the ‘Northern Tourism Development Strategic Plan 2026–2030’ was officially handed over today – on Friday 06 February 2026, to the Hon. Governor of the Northern Province, N. Vethanayahan.
During the meeting held at the Northern Province Governor’s Secretariat, the plan report was presented to the Governor, along with a detailed presentation on the plan.
Under the funding allocation of the Northern Province Tourism Bureau, the responsibility of preparing this plan was assigned to the Faculty of Business Studies at the University of Vavuniya. Accordingly, this strategic plan has been prepared by a special expert team led by Dean Dr. V. Nanthakoban.
Based on extensive studies and discussions conducted across all five districts of the Northern Province, a total of 431 tourism sites have been identified in this plan.
– Jaffna District: Divided into 5 zones with 200 sites.
– Mullaitivu District: 77 sites.
– Kilinochchi District: 56 sites.
– Vavuniya District: 49 sites.
– Mannar District: 49 sites.
From these, priority has been given to selecting 10 tourism sites per district and, at the provincial level, 2 tourism sites per district, totaling 10 priority sites.
For each selected tourism site, the reasons for selection, including tourism potential, infrastructure facilities that need development, the strengths and weaknesses in Northern tourism, and methods to address those weaknesses are comprehensively detailed in this strategic plan document.
Upon receiving the plan report, the Hon. Governor commented: “This excellent plan should not be kept merely as a document; an immediate practical mechanism must be established to implement it,” he strongly emphasized.
Furthermore, the Hon. Governor instructed that officials from the Tourism Bureau should personally visit each of the prioritized tourism sites, hold discussions with all relevant stakeholders, and swiftly commence development work.
The event was attended by the Secretary of the Ministry of Local Government of the Northern Province, the District Secretary of Mannar, the Deputy Chief Secretary (Planning), Assistant Chief Secretary from Chief Secretary’s Secretariat, the Planning Director of the Urban Development Authority – Northern Province, representatives from the five District Secretariats, the Chairman, Director, and members of the Northern Province Tourism Bureau, professors from the University of Vavuniya who prepared the plan, and many others.
