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Sri Lanka Hotel School Courses and Fees 2026 (SLITHM)

See which SLITHMcourse you qualify for, where it is taught and what it costs. Every fee and entry rule is quoted from the hotel school's own pages.

By Induwara AshinsanaUpdated Oct 3, 2026
Find your SLITHM course and its fee8 programmes, 9 colleges
15 published totals reconcile

Answer six questions and you get the programmes you qualify for, the colleges that teach them, the published fee for each, and a plain reason for everything you do not qualify for yet.

Common starting points

Age on the closing date of the application. SLITHM publishes limits from 16 up to 65.

Pick the exact profile you hold. Where a published route asks for something your answer does not prove, the result says so instead of guessing either way.

Which trades are taught differs by college, and it differs again between the Craft course and the Diploma.

Colombo is the head institute on Galle Road. The other eight are the provincial colleges.

Two years opens an entry route into the Management Diploma and into Event Management. Enter 0 if you have none.

You qualify for
2
programmes
Needs confirming
3
programmes
Cheapest published total
Rs 500
Event Management
Soonest published intake
November 2026
Management Diploma

Programmes you qualify for

Craft Level Course

3 months · English medium

Next intake December 2026

Entry route met: Studied up to G.C.E. Ordinary Level.

Taught at: Colombo, Kandy, Koggala, Ratnapura, Kurunegala, Anuradhapura, Bandarawela, Batticaloa, Jaffna

Published total, depending on specialisation

Rs 14,000 to Rs 47,000

Across Professional Cookery, Restaurant and Bar Services, Hotel Reception (front office), Hotel Housekeeping, Pastry and Bakery. Pick a specialisation above for the exact figure.

What comes next: Finish the Craft course, then complete one year of industrial experience in the same discipline, and you can apply for the Certificate Level of the Diploma in Hotel & Catering Operations.

Read the official SLITHM page for this course

Event Management

6 months, part time (Thursday and Friday 4.30pm to 7.30pm, Saturday 9.00am to 4.00pm) · English medium

Intake not published

Entry route met: Studied up to G.C.E. Ordinary Level.

Taught at: Colombo

Published fees for Event Management
Application feeRs 500
Application feeRs 500
  • The application fee is paid into Bank of Ceylon Corporate Branch account 0007120156, and the deposit slip is uploaded with the application.
  • The course page's own description mentions five years of event-sector experience as the alternative route, while its Entry Qualifications block states two years. We follow the Entry Qualifications block and flag the discrepancy. Confirm with SLITHM before relying on it.
Read the official SLITHM page for this course

Open to you, with something to confirm

Management Diploma (4 years)

4 years · English medium

Next intake November 2026

You may also qualify through

  • SLITHM Craft level in the relevant field, plus one year of industrial training

Taught at: Colombo, Kandy, Koggala, Ratnapura, Kurunegala, Anuradhapura, Bandarawela

Published total, depending on specialisation

Rs 61,000 to Rs 241,000

Across Professional Cookery, Restaurant and Bar Services, Hotel Reception (front office), Hotel Housekeeping, Pastry and Bakery. Pick a specialisation above for the exact figure.

What comes next: The diploma runs as Certificate, Intermediate and Advanced levels (CL, IL, AL). Students with hotel-industry experience join at Intermediate level; those without start at Certificate level.

Read the official SLITHM page for this course

National Tourist Guide Course (Licensing Program)

5 months, full time · medium not published

Next intake March 2027

You may also qualify through

  • At least 5 years of continuous service as a Licensed Chauffeur Tourist Guide
  • At least 8 years of continuous service as a Licensed Area Tourist Guide
  • Resided and worked at least 5 years in a country where the course language is the native tongue, with certificates (other-language guides only)

Taught at: Colombo

Published fees for National Tourist Guide Course (Licensing Program)
Registration feeRs 1,000
Course feeRs 150,000
Examination feeRs 1,000
Total for the courseRs 152,000
  • An additional charge applies for the language test. SLITHM does not publish the amount.
  • The applicant must be a citizen of Sri Lanka.
  • The licence issued by the SLTDA is the legal requirement to work as a tourist guide in Sri Lanka. This course leads to it.
  • For Area Guide or Site Guide training, contact the Provincial Tourism Department of the relevant provincial council instead.
Read the official SLITHM page for this course

Tourist Drivers' Refresher Programme

1 day · Sinhala and English medium

Intake not published
  • Upload the expired official ID issued by the Tourist Board with the application.

Taught at: Colombo, Anuradhapura, Kandy, Koggala

Published fees for Tourist Drivers' Refresher Programme
Course feeRs 2,500
Course feeRs 2,500
  • This is a renewal course for drivers who already held a Tourist Board ID, not an entry course.
Read the official SLITHM page for this course

Not open to you yet, and why

  • Honours degree

    • The published entry qualification is not met by the qualification you selected.
    • Minimum 30% for the Common General Test. You entered 0%.

  • Chauffeur Tourist Guide

    • The published age limit is 23 years or above, you entered 20.
    • A valid licence to drive a vehicle seating up to 7, with at least 5 years of experience driving such a vehicle. Tick the licence box if you hold one.

  • Tourist Drivers' Training

    • The published age limit is 23 years or above, you entered 20.
    • A valid Sri Lankan driving licence held for at least 5 years, Category B (new licence) or C/C1 (old licence). Tick the licence box if you hold one.

Which college teaches what

Craft Level availability by college
SpecialisationColoKandKoggRatnKuruAnurBandBattJaff
Professional CookeryTaught at ColomboTaught at KandyTaught at KoggalaTaught at RatnapuraTaught at KurunegalaTaught at AnuradhapuraTaught at BandarawelaNot taught at BatticaloaTaught at Jaffna
Restaurant and Bar ServicesTaught at ColomboTaught at KandyTaught at KoggalaTaught at RatnapuraTaught at KurunegalaTaught at AnuradhapuraTaught at BandarawelaTaught at BatticaloaTaught at Jaffna
Hotel Reception (front office)Taught at ColomboTaught at KandyTaught at KoggalaTaught at RatnapuraTaught at KurunegalaTaught at AnuradhapuraTaught at BandarawelaNot taught at BatticaloaNot taught at Jaffna
Hotel HousekeepingTaught at ColomboTaught at KandyTaught at KoggalaTaught at RatnapuraTaught at KurunegalaTaught at AnuradhapuraTaught at BandarawelaTaught at BatticaloaNot taught at Jaffna
Pastry and BakeryNot taught at ColomboTaught at KandyTaught at KoggalaNot taught at RatnapuraNot taught at KurunegalaNot taught at AnuradhapuraNot taught at BandarawelaNot taught at BatticaloaNot taught at Jaffna

Column headings are the first four letters of each college town, in the order SLITHM lists them: Colombo, Kandy, Koggala, Ratnapura, Kurunegala, Anuradhapura, Bandarawela, Batticaloa, Jaffna. The 5 rows are the specialisations whose availability is published per trade.

Sources cited: every age band, entry route, college exclusion, fee and intake month comes from the SLITHM course pages and the provincial college list, last verified 2026-10-03. Fees and intake months change per intake, so confirm with the college before you pay anything.

How it works

Sri Lanka Institute of Tourism & Hotel Management (SLITHM) is the state hotel school, run under the Ministry of Tourism, and it publishes 8 programmes across 9 colleges. This page is a filter over those published pages, not a ranking and not advice. Every programme kept, and every programme set aside, is decided by a rule printed on a SLITHM course page, which is linked on each card.

Each programme carries a transcribed record of four things: the age band, the alternative entry routes, which colleges teach which specialisation, and any extra condition such as the driving licence. A programme is offered to you when the age band holds, at least one entry route is satisfied, the college you picked teaches the trade you picked, and every extra condition passes.

Where a published route asks for something your answer cannot prove, the programme is neither passed nor rejected. It is listed as needing confirmation, with the exact wording to check. An A/L holder is the clearest case: the Diploma's published route is an O/L credit profile, and three A/L passes say nothing about whether six O/L subjects included Mathematics with three credits, so the page asks rather than assumes.

The three fee formulas

SLITHM prices its courses three different ways, so the page uses three formulas and never mixes them. Nothing is indexed, inflated or estimated.

  • Monthly fee, fixed length. The Craft Level course: registration + monthly × 3 + examination. Source: the craft course page's own Course Fee block.
  • Monthly fee, staged length. The 4-year Management Diploma: registration + monthly × 12. SLITHM publishes a monthly rate and a Certificate, Intermediate and Advanced level structure, not a programme price, so the total is labelled as the first 12 months. A 48-month multiplication would be our invention. The examination fee sits outside the total because it is charged per examination sat.
  • Flat course fee. Both SLTDA licensing courses: registration + course fee + examination, which is Rs 152,000 each. Both pages say an additional charge applies for the language test without stating it, so that charge is named and left out of the total rather than guessed at.

The Tourist Drivers' Training Programme (Rs 10,500), the Refresher Programme (Rs 2,500) and the Event Management application fee are single published figures and are shown as they are printed.

One programme has no fee at all. SLITHM publishes no registration, course or examination fee for the Bachelor of Hotel & Resort Management (Honours), so the card says so and gives the published contact route instead of a number. Every total on this page is re-derived at render time by adding the monthly fee month by month as well as multiplying it, and the badge in the calculator header only says the totals reconcile when both routes agree to the rupee.

SLITHM course fees 2026 at a glance

Published totals per specialisation. Craft is the full 3-month cost. Diploma is 12 months at the published monthly rate, with the per-sitting examination fee excluded.

SpecialisationCraft Level, 3 monthsDiploma, first 12 months
Professional CookeryRs 24,500Rs 121,000
Restaurant and Bar ServicesRs 20,000Rs 85,000
Hotel Reception (front office)Rs 14,000Rs 61,000
Hotel HousekeepingRs 14,000Rs 61,000
Pastry and BakeryRs 47,000Rs 241,000

Source: the SLITHM Craft Level and Management Diploma pages, last verified 2026-10-03. Pastry and Bakery is taught at only two colleges at Craft level and one on the Diploma, so check the availability grid in the finder before budgeting for it.

Worked examples

O/L leaver in Ratnapura who wants to cook

Age 17 · 6 O/L subjects with 3 credits including Maths and English · Cookery · Ratnapura

  1. Craft Level: age 17 is at or above the published 16, and the entry rule is only that you studied up to O/L.
  2. Ratnapura teaches Craft Cookery (all colleges except Batticaloa), so the campus check passes.
  3. Monthly fee: Rs 7,500 × 3 months = Rs 22,500
  4. Plus registration Rs 1,000 and examination Rs 1,000
  5. Craft total: Rs 24,500. Three months, English medium, next intake December 2026.
  6. Management Diploma: age 17 meets the 17 minimum exactly, and the six-subject three-credit O/L profile satisfies route 1.
  7. Monthly fee: Rs 10,000 × 12 = Rs 120,000, plus registration Rs 1,000
  8. First 12 months: Rs 121,000, with Rs 1,000 per examination sat on top.
  9. Pastry and Bakery is not available at Ratnapura at either level, so it is listed as blocked with the published colleges named.

Kandy driver who wants to guide tourists

Age 25 · 6 O/L subjects with an English credit · Chauffeur guiding · Kandy · licence held 7 years

  1. Chauffeur Tourist Guide: age 25 is inside the published 23 to 65 band.
  2. Six O/L subjects in two sittings or fewer with the compulsory English pass satisfies route 1.
  3. Kandy is one of the three delivery colleges, with Colombo and Anuradhapura.
  4. Fee: Rs 1,000 + Rs 150,000 + Rs 1,000 = Rs 152,000, plus the language-test charge SLITHM does not publish.
  5. Tourist Drivers' Training: age 25 is inside 23 to 60, and the 5-year Category B licence requirement is met.
  6. Fee: Rs 10,500 flat. Four days, Sinhala and English, next intake August 2026.
  7. National Tourist Guide: O/L alone fails every published route, and it runs in Colombo only. Both reasons are shown.

Edge case: A/L leaver in Colombo with no specialisation chosen

Age 19 · 3 A/L “S” passes in one sitting · Common General Test 42 · Any specialisation · Colombo

  1. Honours degree: three “S” passes in one sitting, and 42% clears the published 30% Common General Test bar.
  2. Fee: not published by SLITHM. The card shows [email protected] and 011-2208312 / 070-7500100, and no number.
  3. Craft Level: eligible at every trade Colombo teaches, which is Cookery, Restaurant and Bar, Hotel Reception and Hotel Housekeeping.
  4. Cheapest at Colombo: Rs 1,000 + Rs 4,000 × 3 + Rs 1,000 = Rs 14,000 (Reception or Housekeeping)
  5. Dearest at Colombo: Rs 1,000 + Rs 7,500 × 3 + Rs 1,000 = Rs 24,500 (Cookery)
  6. Pastry and Bakery is excluded from that range because Craft pastry runs at Koggala and Kandy only. Its own total, Rs 47,000, is reachable at those two colleges.
  7. Management Diploma: shown as needing confirmation, because an A/L pass does not prove the six-subject three-credit O/L profile the published route asks for.

Frequently asked questions

Sources & references

Every age band, entry route, campus exclusion, fee and intake month on this page was transcribed from the pages above on 2026-10-03 and is re-checked quarterly. SLITHM sets fees and intake dates per intake, so confirm with the college before you pay anything. If a figure here disagrees with what the college tells you, the college is right and I want to hear about it.

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Comments & feedback

Spotted a bug or want an improvement? Tell us, our team reviews every comment, and good ideas get built. Comments are public and anonymous.

Found a fee that has changed, a college that now teaches a trade, or an intake month that has moved?

Email me at [email protected], most fixes ship within 24 hours.