(COLOMBO, LANKAPUVATH) – Sri Lanka Tourism and the Vocational Training Authority (VTA) signed an agreement last week to train drivers involved in the tourism industry, enabling training programs to be conducted island-wide for tourist drivers to enhance their skills and get suitable employment opportunities both locally and overseas.
Tourist drivers play a pivotal role in contributing to the tourism industry in transporting visitors and ensuring their safety and comfort.
“We reached out to the Vocational Training Authority (VTA) and are pleased to sign this agreement that will now enable our industry stakeholders to have easy access to trainings island-wide,” Sri Lanka Tourism Chairperson, Kimarli Fernando said.
“Tourism driver training is the first step taken in this regard and VTA’s wide branch network is very valuable and their expertise in training will support our strategic action plan to support the SME’s segment,” she added.
Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority in collaboration with VTA will conduct several training sessions for tourist drivers in targeted Touristic areas such as Negombo, Chilaw, Colombo, Kalutara, Galle, Weligama, Mirissa, Hikkaduwa, Kataragama, Yala, Kandy, Ella, Nuwara Eliya and Bandarawela from October 7 to November 20, which will afford them an opportunity to enhance their knowledge.
Chairman of VTA, Damitha Wickramasinghe said: “We train around 35,000 youth annually under 1,600 different programs in 22 various trade sectors, and we are happy to partner up with Sri Lanka Tourism on this initiative”.
The training is a four-day program (20 hours) and the cost per person is Rs. 5,000. At the end of the training, a joint certificate will be issued by SLTDA and VTA to the participant. For more information on the Tourist Driver Training program,
The VTA was established on August 16, 1995 with the intent of providing skills for employment. Currently, the VTA is operating as the largest vocational training network with 186 Vocational Training Centers (VTC), 22 District Vocational Training Centers (DVTC) and 8 National Vocational Training Institutes (NVTI), which previously had just 31 Vocational Training Centers in 1995.
