The sixth sense of tourism

The New York Times and the National Geographic recently gave top rating and ranking for Sri Lanka as one of the most exotic islands in the world for visitation by discerning tourists. This lifted the spirit of most of our tourism industry, as did the recent double-digit increases in tourist arrivals. Most releases published in the media, talked about how wonderful such ratings will be for Sri Lanka to attract more and more tourists and investment in tourism.

Diversity at its best

Sadly though, not many spoke or focused on what these writers and commentators were actually saying. Their contention was that Sri Lanka is exotic for it is a destination with so much to offer within a limited space; it is green and lush, where one could find solitude on its beaches without having to share it with tens of thousand others and offered a diversity of people, their culture, heritage, nature and adventure like no other.

The key message to derive was that it is this serendipitous nature of our Motherland that attracts visitors. We are indeed a little ‘green lung’ on earth where its bio-diversity is still something we can rightfully boast about. We must also not forget the potent connect our visitors make with the caring ways and the warm smiles of our people. Every survey done by Sri Lanka Tourism even during the difficult times, at the airport with exiting tourists, had ‘friendliness of the people’ as the top most important factor they considered as being memorable about Sri Lanka.

All must add up

We must realise that travel and tourism is not merely about building resorts and hotels. The facilities for accommodation are indeed essential. Its quality need to be good, but they need not be structures built knit-together as hotels within resorts with rooms or villas adjoining each other, with sprawling manmade gardens, boasting of largest possible swimming pools and banquet halls, like most did in the past. They must not be energy guzzlers but be using the free energy resources to the fullest. They must take away travel guilt the discerning traveller feels and not create more of it. They must all add up to create a travel experience that is serendipitously Sri Lankan.

As CNN Task Group’s Anita Mandiratta in a recent article mentioned “The transposing power of detail through the power of the five senses” goes to make a unique and holistic travel experience. Adding on, she said “But what is even more powerful, more stirring, and more enduring is the sixth sense of travel - the fusion of the five senses, the collective feeling” and went on to explain that “It is the feeling of being in a place, that deeply held emotion attached to a specific moment in time, and felt once again in the mind’s eye when cellular memory triggers return, which makes travel so profoundly impactful beyond the immediate, three-dimensional experience. With all of the stimuli and emotion of the moment combined into a multi-sensory cocktail, it is the resulting feeling of the moment, which is so intoxicating”.

Authenticity and meaning

Where discerning travellers stay must be of good design, clean and comfortable to give them a good night’s sleep and a feeling of homeliness. The food they eat must be prepared hygienically, be healthy and must please more than the sense of taste. The roads and vehicles they use must be comfortable and trips must be designed to be fatigue free. The places they visit must be safe, secure, designed to be disabled friendly and must be hassle free. Interpretation and signage must be adequate. Basics such as well-maintained toilets and water must be in place. Guiding services must be of a high quality and exploitation through overcharging on shopping expeditions must be addressed. Local communities must be made to be strong stakeholders at all points of creating the visitor experience. Better still, it can be the local communities themselves creating it, retaining its authenticity and meaning. Our mind-body wellness offers of ayurvedha, meditation and simple ways of living closer to nature, can all be shared.

Dream experiences

The challenge before us now is to realise that our tourism must not be left in the hands of ‘traders’ within a ‘tourist trade’ or those who want to get in, to make a fast buck. We must realise that most of those in tourism need to reach beyond the mere selling of tours to places. We need to get beyond the stage of ‘putting’ or ‘placing’ our visitors at hotel rooms by the beach or at scenic spots in the hills or heritage sites. We must stop the exploitation of tourists, in getting them to pay a mark-up of nearly 60 percent in added commissions, when they are taken to pre-designated shops, spice-gardens and jewellers. Instead, we need to venture to create dream experiences that are of high value, that can bring in yields deserving of the uniqueness of the offer we have.

What we need now is to realise that we are no longer in a ‘buyers market’ where the facilities we created and the prices we sold at, were mostly dictated by corporate tour and/or charter operators overseas. That was when we were novices in tourism and thereafter when we did not have a perfect backdrop to conduct our business affairs. In any case, the relationship-based business model of the past, does not serve us the way it did then. Most overseas tourism corporate entities are driven today by only bottom-line considerations. They tend to drop destinations the moment they stop performing, unlike in the past when loyalties mattered.

Today, we are free of those encumbrances and are in a position to enter a ‘sellers market’ where we can determine the nature and quality of the experience; the type of visitors we want to seek and the prices we must charge in return. Here we need to make good use of info-communication tools with which, we can reach our customers and customer segments direct without limiting ourselves to markets defined by geographical boundaries

Our competitive edge

The truism that ‘supply creates its own demand’ will hold here as we venture to take on the next phase of our tourism development. The accolades we get now are proof that we have the basic elements of that desired ‘supply’ in tact. The challenge for us is now to keep it that way, for that would be critical for us to make good this most powerful competitive edge we possess.

Thankfully, the earlier economic models of seeking glitter, dependence on global markets and wasteful consumption by some, could not take firm root within our economy. One of the reasons for this was because we were directing our resources to fight a war on terrorism and the other, the level of resistance the model drew from our rural communities. With the war done with, today the thrust is on a different model where; building unity, enhancing local agricultural production, taking-on regional development and seeking sustainability are at focus.

Haritha Lanka

What that in effect means is that there will be a Sri Lanka where its people and their environment will matter.

The ‘way forward strategy’ of the Mahinda Chintanaya, has dedicated a chapter on policy and strategic initiatives to create a greener or a ‘Haritha Lanka’.

The Environment and Natural Resources authorities are geared to taking on programs to make this a reality.

These include; waste management based on the reducing-reusing-recycling principle, pollution control, reforestation, water management and the overall conservation of all our other natural resources.

Yet, the current reality on the ground is alarming. The land-brokers are at work again strongly. Villagers who own land are approached with offers to sell them with strong luring of large sums of money up front.

There is little or no talk about making them equity partners or beneficiary stakeholders in these ‘tourism projects’. Violation of the sanctity with over visitation and vehicle movements at our wild life parks are a problem. Illicit logging still continues with uncertainty looming of the ‘ability to earn’ of some of the local bigwigs. Drug menace, paedophile activity and other negative practices are said to be raising their ugly heads, with the new increased tourist demand.

Stringent zoning plan

While good initiatives are being set in place; community tourism and the right type of products to create the right type of supply will take some time to develop and be promoted.

The need is urgent to have stringent safeguards against the land-grabs within the most scenic areas. That is needed to protect the rights of communities and prevent them from losing out on the windows of opportunity they now have to directly participate and benefit in the making of our tourism future.

What is needed urgently is to have a stringent and transparent zoning plan for Sri Lanka’s tourism and strict adherence of it without any exception.

That plan in its draft form must be placed for public scrutiny and must determine where, what can be done. Upon finalisation, it must be approved by Parliament and the Head of State and shared with all national and local government agencies, potential investors and the general public for determined implementation.