TRAVEL

Proper marketing mechanism will help tourism industry

Sanjeevi Jayasuriya

Sri Lanka needs a comprehensive marketing plan targeting the tourist generation market. Stakeholder commitment to make a sustainable tourism industry will be the key driving factor to increase arrivals, Tourist Hotels Association Sri Lanka Immediate Past President Srilal Mitthapala told Daily News Business.

“There is a 40 percent strong growth year on year basis and the tourism industry outlook is positive. A proper marketing mechanism will better the prospects for the industry in the coming seasons,” he said.

The country recorded a very good volume of tourist arrivals last year and the industry needs to be proactive to surpass this figure. The growth pattern could be sustained with focused marketing strategy where regional competition is high.

May and June are the slowest months for tourism. The prevailing high yields may come down and the accelerated growth may be affected. However, it is too early to conclude on the slowing down trend. A well thoughtout seasonal plan is essential to overcome this situation, he said.

There are a number of concerns regarding industry growth. The room rates have gone up by over 30 to 40 percent. This steep increase will have an impact on arrivals. During the current period 1,500 to 2,000 rooms will be unavailable due to refurbishment. Refurbishment is carried out in Serendib, Browns, Coral Gardens, Yala and LOLC Group hotels.

“There are substantial upgradings carried out in a number of hotels at present. This is a good sign and augurs well for the industry. This will result in an increase in occupancy in other hotels.

The measures to improve facilities are necessary investments as it will lead to improvements in quality of service, he said. “There are 90 hotel projects in the pipeline and we need to expedite the evaluating process to facilitate more hotels. However, bureaucratic delays will discourage potential investors and steps should be taken to speed up the process,” Mitthapala said.