A high-level fireside panel featuring Jeff Hoffman, Jeevan Gnanam, and Yuen Wong, moderated by Cherrie Chan, explored how travel innovation, entrepreneurship, and digital/AI infrastructure can strengthen Sri Lanka’s competitiveness on the global stage.
Held under the theme “The Sri Lanka Destination Stack – How can travel innovation, entrepreneurship, and digital/AI infrastructure help Sri Lanka win globally?”, the discussion focused on moving beyond traditional destination marketing toward building a more future-ready and resilient tourism ecosystem.
The panel highlighted Sri Lanka’s opportunity not only to increase visitor arrivals, but also to attract a more strategic mix of travellers, talent, investors, and long-term partners. Speakers emphasized the importance of differentiation through trusted local curation, enhanced digital infrastructure, compelling storytelling, and intelligent distribution—rather than reliance on price or mass-market tourism.
A key theme was the need for Sri Lanka’s next phase of tourism growth to prioritize quality alongside quantity. Panelists underscored the importance of attracting “smart money,” long-term investment, and partnerships that generate local value, as well as global talent—including founders, creators, digital professionals, and entrepreneurs who can contribute to the broader ecosystem.
The discussion also pointed to the need for stronger, more curated global content about Sri Lanka. While the country is already well known for its natural beauty, culture, hospitality, wildlife, tea, and sport, speakers noted that international audiences have yet to see enough high-quality storytelling that reflects the full depth of the Sri Lankan experience. Strengthening curation, narrative, and global visibility was identified as essential to enhancing the country’s appeal to both travellers and investors.
Further topics included the convergence of tourism, technology, and entrepreneurship, particularly the role of AI in improving travel intent matching, enabling longer-stay experiences, and supporting public–private collaboration to make Sri Lanka a more investable and execution-ready market. With tourism surpassing pre-pandemic levels in 2025, reaching approximately 2.36 million international visitors, confidence is growing that Sri Lanka has a strong foundation to compete more strategically on the global stage.
Moderated by Cherrie Chan, the session concluded with a framing of Sri Lanka not merely as a destination, but as a “stack”—comprising inventory, distribution, trust, talent, and increasingly, AI. The central challenge ahead is how quickly this stack can be organized, articulated, and scaled.
Cargills Bank reports PAT of Rs. 105 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2026
Cargills Bank’s results for the quarter ended 31 March 2026 reported a profit before tax of Rs. 185 million, reflecting a 42% decline compared to the corresponding quarter in 2025. The decrease was primarily driven by a significant reduction in total other income, which fell by Rs. 381 million. This was partially offset by growth in net interest income. The Bank posted a profit after tax of Rs. 105 million for the quarter.
Net interest income increased to Rs. 1,041 million, a 20% rise over Q1 2025. This growth was supported by loan expansion and a strategic focus on repricing deposits and advances in line with prevailing market conditions, helping to optimize net interest margins (NIM), which improved from 4.38% in Q1 2025 to 4.46% in the quarter under review.
Net fee and commission income recorded a marginal decline of Rs. 7 million, or 3%, compared to the corresponding quarter in 2025. This was mainly due to one-off fee income items related to loans and advances in Q1 2025, along with a slight reduction in trade-related fee income during the current quarter. Similarly, total other income declined sharply by 96% to Rs. 15 million, largely due to the absence of higher realized capital gains from derecognition of financial assets and net gains from financial assets at fair value through profit or loss recorded in Q1 2025.
Total operating expenses increased by 7% to Rs. 979 million, driven by higher personnel costs, which rose 15% due to salary increments and adjustments aimed at retaining talent and aligning with market conditions. Depreciation and amortization expenses grew by 36%, reflecting continued investment in information technology and infrastructure upgrades. As a result, the cost-to-income ratio rose to 75%, compared to 71% in the same period last year.
The Bank significantly narrowed its other comprehensive loss to Rs. 60.4 million, an 80% improvement from Rs. 307.3 million in Q1 2025, supported by lower fair value losses on financial assets measured at fair value through OCI. Consequently, total comprehensive income turned positive at Rs. 44.4 million, marking a 131% improvement year-on-year.
The Banking segment remained the primary driver of performance, with operating profit before tax rising to Rs. 282 million from Rs. 129 million in Q1 2025. This improvement was driven by a 36% increase in segment net interest income, which reached Rs. 944 million.
Sri Lanka is positioned as a high-value tourism destination and an innovation hub
