Measures will be adopted to prevent the exploitation of Government endorsements in future, Deputy Minister of Tourism Ruwan Ranasinghe told The Sunday Morning, as investigations continue into the cancelled Ne-Yo Live in Sri Lanka concert, with key organisers allegedly absconding.
Responding to an inquiry made by The Sunday Morning amid mounting public anger over the aborted concert, Ranasinghe said the incident had exposed gaps in existing endorsement practices and underscored the need for stronger screening and safeguards, particularly where events were linked to Government institutions or venues.
“We definitely need to prevent such incidents in the future,” he said, noting that while endorsements were routinely issued for tourism-related events proposed through established companies, the Ne-Yo concert controversy had demonstrated how such endorsements could be misused.
He said lessons learnt from the episode would inform the introduction of more robust assessment and verification mechanisms.
The concert, scheduled for 28 December at the Sugathadasa Outdoor Stadium, was abruptly announced as “postponed” just days before the event, triggering a wave of complaints from ticket holders and service providers.
Ranasinghe said preliminary investigations indicated that at least one of the principal organisers linked to the event had fled the country. According to the Deputy Minister, one of the directors of the organising entity is believed to be missing, while the status of the other director has not been conclusively established yet.
Acting Police Media Spokesperson ASP Minura Senarath stated that no formal complaint had been lodged with any Police station as of yesterday (27) regarding the cancelled Ne-Yo concert despite multiple media reports and officials reporting otherwise.
Explaining the Government’s involvement, Ranasinghe said the endorsement had been issued after the proposal had been presented through what appeared to be credible and well-established channels.
“They requested an endorsement from the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau. We provided it because the proposal came through reputable channels. Since such events are directly related to tourism, our standard practice is to offer endorsements,” he said.
He said the Government viewed the concert as a legitimate opportunity to promote Sri Lanka as a destination for international entertainment events and to generate economic benefits through tourism inflows.
“Our perspective was that this concert presented a genuine opportunity to promote Sri Lanka and derive economic benefits through tourism. Unfortunately, it now appears there has been a scam. We have learnt that the specific organiser is missing, and legal action will follow,” Ranasinghe said.
Following the postponement announcement, the organisers stated on social media that refunds would be processed through the PickMe app, which served as the Official Ticketing Partner.
Commenting on refunds, Ranasinghe said his understanding was based on information that emerged after the controversy broke.
“I attended the launch event at Cinnamon Grand, where ticketing was entirely handled by PickMe. Therefore, I am not sure of the details, but there was an announcement that refunds would be facilitated through PickMe too,” he said. He nevertheless claimed that the Government had no knowledge yet about whether the refunds would be given.
Looking ahead, Ranasinghe said greater scrutiny would be required to protect both the public and the credibility of Sri Lanka’s growing entertainment and events sector.
“While scams occur everywhere, as a Government tourism organisation, we must endorse proposals that come through reputable companies and top industry professionals. We cannot simply deny them,” he said. “However, it is necessary to implement better screening for companies that propose these events.”