The current skills plan will be implemented over a period of 3 years, with an overall objective of increasing employment levels in the tourism and related sector will rise by 50%, bringing the numbers employed to around 7000.

This will be achieved through tackling skill gaps, raising the quality of jobs that people perform and helping to move the district from a low to a middle level skills equilibrium, as well as providing the foundations for a high skill growth path.Significant skill shortages face the hotels and guest houses in Trincomalee. Evidence from an enterprise survey identified that 38 percent of guest houses and 46 percent of hotels are experiencing a vacancy, much larger than in other districts.

The top five vacancies were found in the following occupations: cooks, front office staff managers, waiters, receptionists, and guest house officers. Skill gaps are also found among workers in tourism sector in terms of cognitive, non-cognitive and technical skills. Tourism at the district level has been guided by several development plans.

To achieve this overall objective, the skills implementation plan will tackle several severe constraints facing the supply of skills. However, the plan recognises that skills alone cannot support growth, and that there is a need to facilitate demand and expand the operation of the value chain in the district.