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By Chandani Jayatilleke

"I am in a hurry, If you stand still, you'll go backwards. We have to keep going forward. The world is moving fast and we have to keep pace with it."

The man in a hurry is Stefan Furkhan, the young scion of a family which has contributed enormously to the growth of tourism in Sri Lanka. In today's Meeting Point, Furkhan, the Managing Director of Confifi Group shares with the readers his insights into the problems of the tourism/hospitality industry, his assessment of the state of the industry today and its prospects in the coming years in an increasingly competitive global environment.

According to Furkhan there are two ingredients which promote tourism: one is a good regulatory infrastructure and the other is permanent peace. In terms of ethnic problem, the current situation is extremely positive. But there's no guarantee that the peace will be permanent. But if permanent peace prevails, there will be a huge upsurge in the tourism industry. The North and East will be a major tourism attraction, he said.

Infrastructure improvement

Whether the industry will take advantage of peace and grow will depend critically on planned development and the creation of proper infrastructure. "We should not repeat a Hikkaduwa in the North East. In other words, we should not rush in there to put up hotel after hotel. First of all, we should develop a proper master plan and the right infrastructure. We will have to ensure a proper water and power supply, and a reliable garbage and sewerage system. The road network should be good too," he said.

Furkhan calls for the expeditious setting up of a Tourism Promotion Authority in order to take advantage of current favourable developments in the political and economic arena. "We've been talking about this project for the last few years. We plan and discuss ideas. But take no action," he said.

Making Lanka a favoured destination

Furkhan feels that Sri Lanka is not marketing itself abroad in the way it should. "We have to reposition and rediscover Sri Lanka to make an impact on world tourism," he said. There is much talk about up market tourism but there also seems to be a lot of misconceptions about this. The first principle that we have to remember is that tourism like any other product or service works on demand and supply. If the supply is greater than the demand as is the case here, then the prices will be depressed. This is not unique to us. Look at Malaysia. You can get a top Deluxe 5 star hotel for 50 60 US Dollars. Likewise, in New York and Florida after September the 11th prices of hotels which were normally over 200 Dollars a night were going for 70 80 Dollars. Secondly, the most important ingredient is peace. No up market client is going to pay 300 400 Dollars a night for a destination in which there are troubles or the risk of terrorist attacks. Furthermore, assuming there is permanent peace tomorrow it is folly to believe that we can all suddenly have upmarket clients and charge over 100 dollars a night. Like in Thailand, where you have your exclusive Aman style resorts at 400 Dollars a night, you also have your medium category 3 to 4 star hotels at 80 dollars a night and you also have your budget hotels at 20 30 Dollars a night. I believe that when peace prevails the opportunity for Sri Lanka will also be similar to create a better make for both volume and up market tourism. Of course at that stage you will also need to look at the product and creating the type of resorts and experience that can command upwards of 200, 300 or 400 Dollars a night. We have to position it and market it in the appropriate way," he said.

Furkhan calls for a further development of existing tourist areas such as Bentota and Beruwala. "We still don't have a proper garbage disposal system, a coast conservation system or a water supply and sewerage system in Beruwala. When there are heavy rains, hotels find it difficult to manage the flooding," Furkhan said.

At present, there are 13 hotels with 1,293 rooms in Beruwala, nine hotels with 770 rooms in Bentota and three with 142 rooms in Induruwa. There are about 4,000 beds in the area. "Even if we achieve 50% occupancy, the market can be deemed to be big enough to justify a big outlay for infrastructural development," he said.

Describing the Bentota-Beruwala-Induruwa area as the "biggest resort area" in Sri Lanka, Furkhan suggests that a Tourist Centre to provide facilities for shopping, restaurant, entertainment, banking and communication should be set up. There should also be amphitheatres, cultural shows, police posts and duty free shopping facilities to attract higher spending clients as any resort area abroad would have these facilities. This kind of a project will also help create many job opportunities. According to him the private sector is willing to launch such a project through a joint venture with the Government.

Harassment of tourists

Beach boys and touts are a major threat to the industry in this resort area, Furkhan said. "But this threat has not been adequately addressed by the authorities. Certainly there is a possibility of reducing the menace as we move towards permanent peace and people have more and more legitimate economic and employment opportunities. But this is some way off. At present, touting is seen as an easy way to make money. In other comparable up-market destinations such as Mauritius, Bali or the Maldives, tourists do not experience any such harassment. In some resorts in Sri Lanka, tourists virtually become prisoners in their hotels," he said.

Positioning hospitality as professional career

The tourism industry is a major employment giver and generates many opportunities not only in hotels but also in the field of logistics outside the hotels. There are openings for the suppliers of vegetables, fish and meat, for contractors and for traders in handicrafts and other products of the cottage sector.

"A problem in the industry today, is that we haven't positioned this sector as an attractive career option for school leavers," said Furkhan.

"Lankan parents would rather their children become doctors, engineers and accountants. Nobody is interested in seeing their children entering the hospitality trade. They are worried that their girls will lose out in the marriage market because a job in a hotel may carry a social stigma."

"Ultimately what tends to happen is that youngsters who fail to go to the university or who could not pass the Advanced Level examination enter the industry for lack of choice. The low pay structures in the tourism industry is a further disincentive for young men and women with good education," he said.

He said that industry should find ways to change this situation and give social recognition for jobs in this industry. "We should look at positioning the industry better and creating awareness among the public and students about tourism being an honourble and paying professional career option. The industry's people should go to schools and make presentations, showcasing successful cases," he said.

Human resources

"In our organisation we recruit and train youngsters in many areas of hotel management in a two-year period. But many of these recruits are not sure about making a career in this industry," he said. Many Sri Lankans are educated and well trained. But they are not in the country. The brain drain must be reversed. If peace lasts, the best may come back.

Regional tourism

Regional tourism could be a lucrative sector but Sri Lanka has not paid much attention to it. Countries such as Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore have been successful in promoting regional tourism with about 50 or 60% of the tourists being from the region. In the South Asian region, India offers a huge potential. "We need to aggressively pursue the bilateral air agreement and secure more seating capacity. We should also allow transactions in Indian currency. The Government's decision to issue Indian travellers visas on arrival is a potential growth of the industry," said Furkhan.

Tourism promotion in China

The Chinese government's decision to give Sri Lanka approved destination status will prove to be a boon for the island. "But here again, we need to look at improving facilities such as better air connections and the provision of Chinese speaking guides and Chinese food. The Tourist Board is taking steps to train suitable guides," he said. "We, in the Confifi, have already done some promotions in China and Hongkong.

"We will continue to carry out our marketing campaigns in these markets." Alluding to the fear that the inflow of Chinese and Indian tourists may mean that high spending European tourists will be edged out, he said that there is no cause for worry because the two categories have different interests.

Adventure tourism

Furkhan suggests that Sri Lanka move away from the "sun and sand syndrome" and focus more on cultural, adventure, eco and ayurveda tourism. "These are the areas we, as a major tourism company, are looking at for future development," he said.

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