Homestay standards set for upgrade with SLTDA-ADB e-learning platform

From left: ADB Country Director Sri Lanka Takafumi Kadono, Additional Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Employment, and Tourism S. L. Nazeer, and SLTDA Deputy Director General Upali  Ratnayake  launching the e-learning platform 

Pic by Kithsiri de Mel

Sri Lanka will witness an improvement in the management and operational standards of home stays across the island nation with the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA), in collaboration with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) having launched an innovative e-learning platform.

 The initiative is part of ADB’s technical assistance programme and is designed to build resilience and sustainability within the tourism sector, which has faced multiple challenges in recent years.

With homestays being a key component in Sri Lanka’s tourism offering, ADB and SLTDA developed the e-learning platform to empower homestay operators, especially micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), including women, youth, and individuals in remote areas. 

By improving the standards and formalising homestay operations, SLTDA said it aims to enhance the tourism MSME sector’s resilience and sustainability. 

The platform, which is expected to contribute significantly to economic recovery, creating a ripple effect across the tourism value chain, offers self-paced, multilingual courses in Sinhala, Tamil, and English, covering key aspects of homestay management, marketing, and sustainability.

This covers nine modules, which are enriched with creative multimedia content, including graphics, voice narrations and videos, featuring real-life homestay stories from Sri Lanka.

The development process involved extensive consultations, including a review of existing training programmes, literature reviews on global best practices, and a design-thinking approach to ensure the content meets the needs of diverse stakeholders. 

ADB Country Director Sri Lanka Takafumi Kadono, addressing the launch event of the platform urged homestay operators to embrace the opportunity and use the platform to sharpen their skills, adapt to changing demands, and use it to deliver exceptional experiences to guests.

“To the policy makers and industry leaders who we have in the room, I urge you to continue investing in and promoting initiatives that support small scale tourism operators and to our partners and collaborators,” he said.