Developing tourism

The end of the war has opened new possibilities for developing tourism in the country. Prestigious publications like the National Geographic magazine and the Washington Post have identified Sri Lanka as one of the top travel destinations.

The number of tourists arriving in the island has taken a phenomenal increase since the third quarter of 2009. If we compare the tourist arrivals in January 2010 with that of 2009 we see an increase of 32 percent. The corresponding increase in February 2010 is 68 percent. If this trend continues, the country would record over 450,000 tourist arrivals in 2010 which would be an all time high.

Yet compared to the possibilities of attracting tourists it is still below the country's potential. Though much has been spent on marketing Sri Lanka, it is doubtful whether the message was well received or not.

A retrospective glance at the tourist industry would show that from its inception in 1966 up to 1982 the industry had advanced with vigour. The number of tourist arrivals in 1982 had reached 407,230. Since then the industry has gone through a negative phase. This could be attributed to the outbreak and development of the fratricidal war unleashed by terrorism against the State.

Till the end of the war there was no substantial increase in the number of tourist arrivals. It is only now that we could hope for a change.

However, much has to be done if we are to benefit from the new interest shown in visiting Sri Lanka. Tourist infrastructure has to be developed at a rapid rate. We have been still unable to at least double the number of hotel rooms that were available in 1992. That year there were a little over 10,000 hotel rooms and in the year 2009 this number approximated only 15,000. That means an increase of 50 percent over 17 years which amounts to an average increase of about three percent per annum. Though the Government had envisaged a six percent annual increase it did not materialize, probably due to the insecure climate and the huge war expenditure.

To it must be added the lethargy of those that were responsible for tourist promotion as well as their ignorance of what was to be done. At present Sri Lanka's major foreign exchange earnings come from the remittances of expatriate workers, the bulk of which are sent by domestic female workers in the Middle East. The prospects of such remittances increasing in the near future are not so bright. On the other hand, prospects of tourism becoming the main foreign exchange earner are real provided the challenge is taken seriously and all forces are harnessed and geared for the job. In this Sri Lankan foreign missions could play a decisive role. Unfortunately their contribution towards promoting tourism has been below par. Even in destinations where special tourist promotion officers are stationed results have been at best mediocre.

The failure of the tourist authorities is also seen by the fact that it has so far failed to produce an attractive theme for luring tourists. They are still experimenting. The debacle of the small miracle is a case in point.

Maldives, which has only the sun and the sea to promote tourism, attracts more than double the number of tourists per year than Sri Lanka. Besides, we have been unable to attract up market tourists for the average spending of tourists per capita in Sri Lanka is relatively low. The immense variety that constitutes our tourist potential has not been explored adequately.

As current tourist arrival figures show there is an urgent need to increase infrastructure facilities for tourism. It is necessary to at least double the number of hotel rooms within two years. For this purpose the government should give incentives to the private sector to improve accommodation as well as improve accessibility and facilities at tourist sites.

A co-ordinated campaign should be conducted to market Sri Lanka abroad. It is necessary not to depend too heavily on the few Western countries that have been the traditional zone that provided tourists to the country. With economic decline in this zone the number of tourists would tend to decline. Instead we must now focus more on upcoming economic powers such as India, China, Russia, Japan and Korea to lure tourists to the country. In other words, we must also look East while not neglecting the West.