The tourism industry is agog with opportunities to be harvested in the medium term. The pieces of the jigsaw puzzle are finally falling into place. Sri Lanka is raking in international adulation and admiration as one of the most sought-after destinations in the world. Finally, the Pearl of the Indian Ocean is beginning to shine in the eyes of global travellers as a veritable treasure trove of lush, authentic experiences. The international endorsements for Sri Lanka have been endless in 2019, spurred by Lonely Planet ranking her as the number one country in the coveted Best in Travel 2019 category, she went on to be voted by travel influencers as the top destination in Asia for 2019, was voted into Emerging Destination Awards – 2019 – 6 Best in the World, appeared in the famous Travel Lemming Reader Awards – 2019 – World's Top Destinations, was listed on I Escape Website UK, ranked amongst 10 Best Places to Visit in 2019, and was named the dream destination for 2019 by Hostelworld. Now, her commercial capital city Colombo has been labelled the "must-photograph" travel destination for 2019 in a study of more than 1.3 million social media posts, and her famed cuisine was recognised by the BBC Good Food team as the number one trending cuisine in 2019. Adding to all the fame and fortune, last week, Sri Lanka’s Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA) saw the appointment of a new chairman – a personality that the industry hopes will think out of the box to pull the industry into a new paradigm of growth. With new leadership, the expectation is to grow the arrivals figures by a little over 20% this year, to hit a total arrivals figure of 3 million for 2019. Of course, with all the third-party endorsements in 2019 and the trending amongst social influencers, Sri Lanka does stand a very good chance of achieving these numbers. The much-awaited launch of the “So Sri Lanka” global brand campaign at ITB, Germany in March, 2019, should it go ahead as planned, would add momentum to Sri Lanka’s fame, serving to convert the interest generated to tangible visits. However, concerns regarding policy implementation are rife. It is understood and accepted that private sector cognition does not fit well into the slow and bureaucratic state sector machinery. “Implementation strangulation” is often the cause of death to many brilliant plans put forward by private sector thinkers, who soon find out that the old-school red tape of the state sector impedes any productive outcomes. Especially state departments like the SLTDA and SLTPB which need to be on the ball, being proactive to changing scenarios in the global and consumer landscape, find that adhering to the long-protracted government tender processes and approval systems are not only stifling but are a veritable death sentence to their strategic intent. A good example is the fact that Sri Lanka has been toying with a global brand campaign for more than five years. Campaigns strategies are proposed, approved, then changed due to bureaucratic agendas, rehashed and represented leading to a loss of message and campaign clarity. Whilst the new private sector thinking will bring new perspectives and strategy lines, it remains doubtful that a significant proportion of the new thinking will materialise into tangible and effective initiatives. Often, decision making is consultative and involves many stakeholders where power and position overrides the strategic objectives. The absurdly long bureaucratic processes in implementation and the individual agendas of people along the line of approvals can be debilitating. One critical area that needs to be addressed with urgency is tourism development and regulation. Whilst there is over regulation in certain areas of the tourism offer, a critical area of concern is the enlarging the informal sector around key tourism visitor attractions such as Ella, Mirissa, Unawatuna, and Arugam Bay. Popular destinations amongst backpackers and the younger travellers, these localities have witnessed a rapid growth of hospitality providers, who are by large, unregulated and unregistered with the SLTDA. Being under the radar, these operations become the hotbed of undesirable activities which can lead to a reputational crisis for brand Sri Lanka. The State has been gearing up to introduce new legislation and regulations to ensure the industry operates in line with today’s traveller requirements for over five years or more. The SLTDA has been striving to strengthen legislation and regulations in relation to providing new guidelines to prevent any negative impacts on the tourism industry, demanding that stakeholders strongly adhere to classification, licensing, and impartial ratings. However, the bureaucratic process of registration, the ethical and transparency issues therein, and the ability of individuals within the registration process to impinge and delay, together with the associated high costs involved, have been key reasons for most small players/operators to avoid the registration process. Another area to be looked at would be the introduction of strict zones, and the development of mega tourism zones. Moreover, harassment of tourists by touts and other vendors in addition to any tourism safety issues need to be addressed strictly through the more active involvement of the Sri Lanka Tourist Police. The Government needs to reassess its administration and work processes to create a better work flow, with the focus on implementation as opposed to delay and derailment. One often wonders whether government departments work with a view to get it done today or postpone it till tomorrow. This “let’s do it tomorrow” attitude is one of the fundamental issues with the system. There is little benefit in infusing new blood to the system if the skeletons in the closet keep strangling the outcomes.