Editorial

Citation

Jayawardena, C.(C). and Teare, R. (2013), "Editorial", Worldwide Hospitality and Tourism Themes, Vol. 5 No. 5. https://doi.org/10.1108/WHATT-05-2013-0035

Editorial

Article Type:

Editorial

From:

Worldwide Hospitality and Tourism Themes, Volume 5, Issue 5

Sri Lanka’s long period of civil conflict ended in 2009 and this theme issue addresses the contribution of inbound tourism since then and its potential for the future. I should like to thank Chandi Jayawardena and his team for their comprehensive study and analysis of the issues and for generating a detailed set of practical recommendations. As the writing team reflects a blend of academics and practitioners with expertise across a wide range of disciplines, the outcomes are both authoritative and thought-provoking.

Worldwide Hospitality and Tourism Themes (WHATT) aims to make a practical and theoretical contribution to hospitality and tourism development and we seek to do this by using a key question to focus attention on an industry issue. If you would like to contribute to our work by serving as a WHATT theme editor, do please contact me.

How might post-war Sri Lanka develop inbound tourism?

This theme issue is dedicated to the development of inbound tourism in Sri Lanka and addresses key issues relating to the inception of organized tourism in Sri Lanka during the period from 1966 to 2013. The intention was to generate a detailed set of recommendations and guidelines for the future and so the writing team was carefully selected to reflect a broad cross-section of interests. These include: National tourism organization and administration; tourism statistics and research; tourism development; tourist destination marketing; conventions; trade associations; professional associations; hotel and resort administration; tourism and hospitality education; rural community development; project management; tourism and hospitality consulting and tourism and hospitality journalism. I should like to thank the contributors for their hard work and dedication to making this theme issue one of the most significant contributions to the body of knowledge on tourism in Sri Lanka.

I should also like to thank the following for assisting with the peer review process: Dr Karen Ekstein (George Brown College, Canada); Dr William Frye (Niagara University, USA); Dr Danuta Grosbois (Brock University, Canada); Dr Annika Hannan (George Brown College, Canada); Mr Nizam Lantra (Open University, Sri Lanka); Dr Tanya MacLaurin (University of Guelph, Canada); Dr Harsha Munasinghe (University of Moratuwa, Sri Lanka); Professor Richard Wade (Ryerson University, Canada); Dr John Walsh (University of Guelph – Humber, Canada); Dr Paul Willie (Niagara College, Canada).

I sincerely hope that this theme issue on tourism in Sri Lanka will be read, enjoyed and used by industry leaders, consultants, researchers, academics and students.

About the theme editor

Dr Chandana (Chandi) Jayawardena FIH CHE is President of Chandi J. Associates Inc. Consulting, St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada. Previously he was the Associate Dean of the Centre for Hospitality & Culinary Arts, George Brown College, Toronto, Canada and held professorships and visiting professorships in hospitality and tourism management in Canada, USA, UK, Switzerland, Jamaica, Guyana and Sri Lanka. Chandi also held senior management positions in Asia, Europe, the Middle East, South America, the Caribbean and North America, including 12 years as the general manager of five premier hotels. He is a Past President of the world’s largest professional association for managers in the hospitality, leisure and tourism industry – HCIMA (now the Institute of Hospitality, UK). Prior to his international career, Chandi held various leadership roles in the hospitality and tourism industry of Sri Lanka. Chandi has co-authored or edited 17 books and journal theme issues, and authored or co-authored over 100 journal articles and book chapters. Chandi has presented at conferences and seminars and/or led consulting projects in 38 countries.

Richard Teare

Managing Editor, WHATT

Chandana (Chandi) Jayawardena
Theme Editor