Comment:

Wise move by hotel industry

Sri Lanka had a very vibrant tourism industry before 1983, when the conflict escalated. In fact, 1982 was the biggest year for Sri Lanka's tourism industry in recent memory.

The country regularly topped the half a million mark for visitor arrivals with ease. All the major airlines flew to Colombo and cruise lines were active as well. That was the golden age of tourism.

But the conflict had a telling effect on an industry, which essentially thrives on peace and tranquillity in a destination country.

As the conflict escalated and peace was shattered, many potential tourists decided to stay away. Negative travel advisories as well as adverse news reports datelined Colombo (whereas most incidents took place hundreds of kilometres away) led to many travellers getting nervous about travelling to Sri Lanka.

The one silver lining was that no tourists were killed or hurt in the incidents that plagued the country for three decades. The message that the South was mostly peaceful did permeate to the most important tourism markets and tourists kept coming, though in reduced numbers.

Many premier airlines pulled out of Colombo, compounding the woes of the travel and tourism industry. This effect was somewhat negated by the commencement of more flights by SriLankan and Middle East-based airlines and the steady supplanting of Asia as the biggest tourism market, as opposed to Europe.

The hotel industry virtually struggled to survive during some of the darkest years of the conflict. Indeed, many would have been in dire straits if the locals did not patronize them.

For the tourists who came to Sri Lanka, it was a buyers' market. Even the five-star hotels had drastically lowered their charges to attract more clientele, leave alone the lower-class hotels.

It was no secret that some five-star rooms went for as little as US$ 50 a night. Such rates were unheard of anywhere else in the world. Sri Lanka gained a reputation as a cheap destination, which was not a very healthy development from the point of view of the tourist industry.

Following the defeat of LTTE terrorism and the subsequent peace dividend, more tourists are flocking to the country. Even some of the hitherto inaccessible areas in the East are seeing hundreds of tourists.

With more airlines flying into Colombo, it will be a matter of time before there is an exponential growth in tourist arrivals, especially of the upmarket variety.

Now is the right time for the industry to raise the bar. Thus the decision by star class hotels to increase their charges for occupancy and services to be on par with international tourist destinations is a move in the right direction.

The average occupancy rates of star class tourist hotels in Colombo were in the range of US$ 50-60, but the hotels will now increase the rates to between US$ 100-120 within the next couple of weeks.

The decision to increase the rates has been approved by the Tourist Board and accepted by most of the leading hotels. More hotels can also be urged to take the 'all inclusive' route to attract more visitors.

As suggested by leading hoteliers, this decision should be accompanied by legislation to regulate the quality and service in major tourist hotels. Such a move will also benefit the hotel employees.

This will obviously require a re-assessment of the facilities and services offered by the graded hotels.

There will be a demand for more rooms as tourist arrivals increase.

The time is right to encourage the upgrading of existing properties and fresh investments in the hospitality industry throughout the country.

The authorities should grant incentives and concessions for such projects. The major international hotel chains which had refrained from investing in properties here due to the conflict should also be invited to mark their presence through rebranding or brand new investments.

As the North and the East open up for tourism, new hotels will have to be built in these regions to accommodate the influx of visitors.

The industry and the authorities should not neglect domestic tourism at this juncture. After all, the locals sustained the industry through a gloomy period. They are also taking advantage of the dawn of peace to travel to all corners of their land. They should be granted specially tailored packages to propel the growth in domestic tourism.

The only direction that the tourism industry can go is up. Sri Lanka is on course to achieve the target of one million tourists sooner than predicted, if the present trends continue.

A concerted effort by all stakeholders in the industry will help surpass this much anticipated milestone.