Getting smaller things right

Vipula WANIGASEKERA

Tourism is the first beneficiary after the dawn of permanent peace in the country and the outcome was already seen from June and July arrival figures that shows increases of 8 percent and 24 percent compared to corresponding months of the previous year.

Sri Lanka is now gearing herself for bigger targets. A vision of hosting 2.5 million tourists in 2016 and the declaration of 'Visit Sri Lanka year 2011' to boost the arrivals are no easy tasks for tourism authorities and the industry, mainly due to the required infrastructure development which is the talk of the town in the tourism arena.

Stilt fishing. Can tourists be charged for stopping and seeing this?

Many discussions are under way on the vision, direction, strategy and the role of tourism in the development of the North and the East. While they are necessary, any over indulgence on too many discussions may submerge many important aspects which, if not addressed and arrested, may have a negative impact on tourism in a bad way thus affecting the long term goals.

Product development

While the product development is planned, much work is needed to correct situations that Sri Lanka could not hitherto pay attention to in the face of the ailing industry. There were no investments forthcoming except for a few boutique hotels. Hotels and resorts could not go for refurbishment while the experienced staff left the country for greener pastures.

This is the right time to take remedial action through drastic measures for which the Government will not hesitate to act with the commitment to develop the country's economy in the next few years. If the foundation is not laid properly the tourism industry will not grow in a sustainable manner. All the visionary statements will fall short of the desired results.

Lets start with the first experience that is confronted by the holiday makers soon after boarding the aircraft. The SriLankan Airline crew has performed so well in the past to win many awards in service standards. There were occasions that an odd crew member may think he or she is doing a special favour to the passenger by offering a glass of water at a non-food serving time. Not only the airlines that the passenger may not chose again, but also the country.

Ensuring that the passengers are given their disembarkation cards in the aircraft is very necessary. We have seen tourists lying on the ground near the immigration area as there is no space for that facility when several flights land together.

Immigration clearance

In fairness to the immigration and airlines, the writer is referring to a few occurrences some months ago when the Airline said that it has not received the 'stocks'. Hopefully this will not recur.

The worst is to be in a long queue to get the immigration clearance. The writer himself was in the line for exactly 1 1/2 hours recently and incidentally with the Chairman of Tourism Development Authority and Promotion Bureau when returning from Singapore. No attention was paid to families travelling with infants and children. Two more counters were opened after nearly one hour which made no difference to the movement.

Similar complaints were received from travellers afterwards and the training program of Authorities for immigration officers (the last one has been held in June) does not seem to have had a positive impact. This is more fundamental to a smile or greeting because some tourists arrive after a long haul flight waiting to get to their hotels.

Changi Airport in Singapore maintains an average of 29 minutes to send a passenger out of the airport after the aircraft hits the ground and they are trying to find ways and means of reducing this time. Something needs to be done whether through training or using common sense.

Bus transportation

Outside the airport, departing passengers, again face a mess. The front edge of the trolley being pushed by the passenger behind often hits the ankle of the one in front when they struggle to find a place to wait until the vehicle arrives. There are whole lots of people waiting in this area and no one knows why.

The issue of bus transportation for departing tourists has been discussed with higher authorities. While security is of paramount importance and must be observed without any hesitation for obvious reasons, some measures are expected to reduce the inconvenience particularly when it comes to tourists with infants and children apart from other VIPs who are invited for various projects that benefit the country.

Most tourists arriving from developed countries are not used to being driven in Sri Lankan style unless they were in India before. The drivers must be educated to drive the vehicles decently as our way of driving is considered reckless and the passengers are often in a tense state until they reach the hotel. This has been mentioned by many tourists in the past as a negative factor. We are not sure when the garbage and the stray dogs issues will be resolved. The Government is taking all possible action to find a remedy and this is a matter of urgency when it comes to tourism. Many countries that have garbage issues, over population and beggars, do not get repeat visitors and this could be a serious issue to sustain a certain level of increase in tourism over a period of time.

Heavy itineraries

We often hear that the itineraries are too heavy and wouldn't take into consideration the discomfort during transport which should allow little more relaxing time, particularly when they are taken on very tiring routes. There is also an inclination to send the tourists to places that pay higher commissions to senders.

The untrained or unethical guides can do the biggest damage. All the promises that are made through marketing and communications will go to waste with just one action of a guide either through sheer ignorance or an unethical practice. Although the authorities and the Guides Association have put in a lot of effort, there are still complaints which cannot be ignored.

The trainers try hard to explain to the operators that the visitor will always pay the value that he or she experiences and gains. A tourist evaluates the value and not really the price!. If he gets value for money, the amount that is charged is immaterial.

The question is how to convert what is being offered to a value for which the whole thinking has to be changed from the tourist's point of view.