Minister of Tourism John Amaratunga has appointed Johanne Jayaratne as the Chairman of the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA), today (14).
Jayaratne had been serving as Managing Director of the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Board (SLTPB) Prior to his appointment at the SLTDA, Jayaratna was serving as the Managing Director of the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau (SLTPB).
Jayaratna previously served as an Executive Director of the Airport and Aviation Authority of Sri Lanka.
Jayaratna also served on the Tourism Advisory Board and was the Chairman of the AASL organising committees for the CHOGM, SAARC and IIFA conferences. During his tenure at AASL, Jayaratne actively collaborated with Sri Lanka Tourism in achieving the country’s tourism development strategies, and actively took part in promotional activities of the tourism industry.
He was immersed in tourism for several years during a brief spell at Walker Tours prior to emigrating to the USA to attend university and to obtain his pilot licenses.
He is a founding partner of a biometric company in Southern CA and led the organisation successfully as its CEO for many years. He also held a Board Director position at DCS America that provided identification solutions to public sector organisations worldwide and is the holder of international patents in biometric technologies that are used extensively at international airports worldwide.