Foreign Affairs, Foreign Employment and Tourism Minister Vijitha Herath has defended the public money spent on the 63rd Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union General Assembly in Colombo, arguing that the event bought Sri Lanka international visibility it could not otherwise afford and that the country’s tourism numbers justify the outlay.
The sponsorship has been contested in Parliament, where an opposition MP set it beside a prosecution of a former minister over a comparable Tourism Promotion Bureau payment. Herath’s remarks, reported by NewsFirst on Friday evening, are the tourism ministry’s answer to that line of attack.
“In order to attract tourists, it is essential that Sri Lanka strengthens its international image and establishes itself as a globally respected destination,” he said.
The arrivals argument
Herath’s case rests on the claim that this year’s shortfall is marginal despite a difficult backdrop — geopolitical tension, travel disruption from conflict in the Middle East, and Cyclone Ditwah.
“Compared to last year, there is a reduction of only around 30,000 arrivals. Even amid various challenges this year, Sri Lanka has welcomed 1.862 million tourists so far. October has become the highest-performing October in the country’s history in terms of tourist arrivals,” he said.
Both figures check out against this desk’s own reporting. Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority data put cumulative arrivals for the first ten months of 2026 at 1,862,304 — matching his 1.862 million exactly — and that total runs 1.5% below the same period of 2025, a shortfall of roughly 28,000. October’s 168,625 arrivals were indeed the best October on record.
One qualification this desk has made before applies to the October claim and Herath does not make it: October was a record for the month, not an all-time monthly high. July 2026 (196,845) and August 2026 (191,704) were both substantially larger months. The minister’s wording — “highest-performing October” — is the accurate formulation, and avoids the overstatement a verified outlet made on the same data.
His claim that 2025 was a record year is also supported. Sri Lanka received about 2.36 million visitors in 2025, ahead of its 2018 benchmark of roughly 2.33 million.
What the promotion budget buys
Herath said the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau has spent tens of millions of rupees on tourism fairs and promotional events in the Netherlands, India, Germany, France, the United Arab Emirates, China, Australia and New Zealand, through roadshows, destination promotions, cultural showcases, public relations campaigns and industry engagement.
“The reality is that our Tourism Promotion Bureau incurs significant expenditure when carrying out separate tourism promotion campaigns in individual countries. However, these initiatives help attract tourists who generate billions of dollars in revenue for the country. Therefore, some level of investment in promotion is essential,” he said.
Against that baseline, he described the ABU assembly as unusually cheap exposure. The opportunity arose because ABU member organisations decided at the 2024 General Assembly in Türkiye that Sri Lanka would host the 2026 edition. “This was a special advantage for Sri Lanka, and we made use of that opportunity.”
He rejected the suggestion that the event existed to benefit one broadcaster: “This event was not about promoting a private television channel. It was an opportunity for tourism development and tourism promotion, and we made full use of that opportunity.”
The sum: a fourth figure, and the most precise one
This desk recorded an unresolved gap between the Rs. 104 million reported by the Daily FT and the Rs. 101 million raised in Parliament. A separate Daily FT filing settles it with a figure more precise than either.
The Tourism Promotion Bureau is sponsoring the assembly and its associated meetings, music festival and excursion to the tune of Rs. 104.6 million, following Cabinet approval, the Daily FT reported on 3 November.
That is the Cabinet-approved sponsorship. The Rs. 101 million cited in Parliament and the “Rs. 100 million” appearing in other coverage are best read as roundings or as references to a narrower component; none of the filings reconciles them explicitly, and this desk does not merge them.
The same filing sets out the body being sponsored: the ABU has 225 members across 66 countries in eight geographical regions, and the Colombo programme was hosted by MTV Channel Ltd — the broadcaster at the centre of the dispute, selected as host broadcaster by the ABU rather than by the government.
Not reported
Herath does not give a figure for what the assembly itself cost or returned, and does not address the Basil Rajapaksa comparison that prompted the parliamentary exchange. He gives no breakdown of the “tens of millions” spent on overseas campaigns, no per-country figures, and no measure of arrivals attributable to any of them.
Neither filing revisits Sri Lanka Tourism’s estimate that the assembly would generate promotional media value exceeding Rs. 250 million, or says how that estimate was produced. Tourism earnings — which have been rising more slowly than arrivals — are not mentioned in his remarks at all.
