June 27th is an international day designated by the United Nations (UN) as “World Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise (MSME) Day”. Prior to this, on June 23, the UN’s corporate collaboration platform CBi (Connecting Business Initiatives) introduced the efforts of CBi member countries on its website. The booklet “Resilient Tourism: A Guide for MSMEs in the Tourism Sector – Sri Lanka“, developed by A-PAD Sri Lanka last year in collaboration with the UN, was also introduced.

In Sri Lanka, MSME enterprises account for 52% of GDP and 45% of all employment and play an important role in society. However, they have been hit hard by abnormal weather, terrorism, and the pandemic. In particular, small and medium enterprises that support tourism such as hotels, restaurants, handicraft shops, spas and Ayurveda are in critical situations. The booklet summarizes methods for managers of MSME enterprises to look at their businesses objectively and specifically examine their weaknesses and improvement measures. The booklet includes useful information on risk mitigation and assesses the business performance.