The Annual General Meeting of the Sri Lanka Institute of Tourist Guide Lecturers is scheduled to be held on 2nd August 2020. Only 200 members will be allowed to attend in person this time due to social distancing regulations, and the others will have to participate via a selected online platform like Zoom. Those who would like to attend in person are therefore requested to contact the office as soon as possible; the available slots will be assigned on a first come, first served basis.

Those who are interested in running for positions on the next board are also called upon to contact the office as soon as possible for the modalities of the application process.

 

As the membership at SLINTGL is growing  and sub-groups evolving to represent specific interest groups, we felt the need to have a united front when representing National Tourist Guide Lecturer interests, collectively.

On July 3rd, a discussion took place at SLINTGL auditorium between the wing leaders and the current interim board. The intention was to get the different wings under SLINTGL with the concept of “Under One Umbrella”. The wings presented were German, Russian, Spanish, French, Japanese, Italian, Chinese, Korean and Cruise Ship Operations. All agreed and appreciated the concept, initiated by Capt. Harsha and the President of SLINTGL Dr. Mahesh Priyadarshana for the benefit of the members.

Dr. Priyadarshana confirmed to the wings that, the SLINTGL would represent and campaign for the rights of all the members. All the wing leaders representing their members, agreed unconditionally for the NTGL fee hike, that is currently being negotiated.

Further, the wing leaders signed a MoU under which they all agreed to join SLINTGL under the concept of “under one umbrella” and in particular on press releases and media representation. For this purpose, a media subcommittee was appointed. Jayadeva Sudusinghe, with his political coordination ability, has been made responsible for state radio and audio coordination. Sarath Vijendra was appointed for print and visual media and Capt.Harsha, as overall coordinator.

President Dr. Mahesh Priyadarshana expressed his gratitude to all those present, on behalf of the interim committee.

The patrons present were Mr. Ravi Munasinghe, Mr. Christopher Silva and Mr. Sisira Kuruppu, accompanied by former presidents and veterans.

The background to the recent turbulence in the SLAITO as a response to a request made by the Chairperson of the SLTDA needs to be clarified. (the FT statement of the President of SLAITO)

The Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA) is the regulatory body that undertakes training, handles the issue/renewal of licences, sets out standards and regulates fees and tariffs for the National Tourist Guide Lecturers (NTGLs). In simpler terms all official matters pertaining to the NTGLs come under their tutelage. One such important factor under their preview is to regulate and fix a standard fee that should be paid for the NTGLs for their services periodically. This is usually done upon a request made by the Sri Lanka Institute of National Tourist Guide Lecturers (SLINTGL) – the official body for the NTGLs – to the SLTDA. It is then passed on to the SLAITO with the recommendation of the SLTDA. The final outcome of the minimum fee for a given period is mutually agreed upon by the SLTDA, SLAITO and SLINTGL.