A boost for tourism – DailyNews

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Although there was a somewhat sombre tone yesterday in the country owing to the 20th anniversary of the Boxing Day Tsunami, there was one silver lining that enlivened the day – the arrival of the two millionth tourist for the year 2024.

This was a significant achievement in every sense of the word, given what the country has gone through in recent times, from the Easter Sunday attacks to the Covid pandemic. This was compounded by the economic crisis of 2022, which affected the tourism industry even more than other sectors. Just a few months ago, there was another security scare in Arugam Bay, though swift action by the authorities neutralised the threat and the tourists simply kept coming in droves.

Sri Lanka is once again being featured as a top destination to visit by social media influencers as well as by prestigious specialist travel publications. Tourists have especially been drawn to two highlights – the 300 Km Pekoe Trail and the Kandy-Ella train ride that passes through the stunning Hill Country landscape. Indian tourists, who lead the tourist arrivals numbers this year, have been lured by the Ramayana Trail, which was recently marketed through a sensational video clip created by SriLankan Airlines.

In fact, the recent Tourism Awards 2024 show held at Cinnamon Life, the latest Five Star Hotel to grace the Colombo skyline, revealed the breadth of talent and creativity in Sri Lanka’s travel and tourism sector. Many innovative ideas for tourism promotion were featured at the ceremony. From wellness resorts to eco destinations to cultural monuments, Sri Lanka offers a complete package that invites foreign visitors to “come back for more” – which is incidentally Sri Lanka Tourism’s slogan. And judging by the arrival statistics, they have been doing exactly that – there are many tourists who come to Sri Lanka to spend a few weeks every year without fail.

Sri Lanka Tourism must look beyond traditional source markets such as India, UK and Germany and cast the net wider to attract tourists from new or low density markets such as Eastern Europe, Americas, Africa and Australasia. Road shows must be held in various world capitals in addition to participating in various tourism fairs. SriLankan Airlines must necessarily be a strategic partner in this exercise as it brings the greatest number of tourists. Aviation authorities must also get more prestigious airlines such as British Airways, KLM, Air France, Japan AirLines, Korean Air, QANTAS and Swiss to offer direct flights to Colombo. This will increase the number of inbound seats to Colombo. We also need to see a corresponding increase in the number of hotel rooms as we seek to get 2.5 million to 3 million tourists next year. There should also be more hotels that are almost destinations in themselves, such as Heritance Kandalama.

It is also heartening to see that the Government is taking tourist transport seriously. The first batch of vehicles imported especially for tourist transport is now with the sole agent and they should be with the travel operators soon. There was a dire need for new vehicles for tourists as Sri Lanka had not imported any new vehicles for the past five years due to Covid-era import restrictions. Tourists do not want to ride in old vehicles that are well past their prime.

The permit scheme for tourist vehicles should continue even after the Government allows normal vehicle imports from February next year. The authorities should also explore the possibility of introducing multi-day public transport passes designed especially for tourists, modelled on options seen in countries such as Singapore and Japan. These could be valid both for buses and railways.

There is no doubt that Sri Lanka has many historic, cultural and natural attractions but Sri Lanka must make a bigger effort to market the “experiences” it has in store for tourists, from the Pekoe Trail to wild safaris. It is also time to think of new experiences and attractions such as Hill Country cable car rides and discovery centres for science, wildlife etc. In this context, we can take a cue from Singapore which does not have any natural attractions per se but has designed a whole raft of attractions from the ground up, including the ever-popular Gardens By the Bay.

Despite the intense focus on the foreign traveller, the tourism industry must not lose sight of the local travellers who sustained the industry through the darkest of times, be it the War or the Easter attacks. It is therefore unfortunate that some tourist hotels and guesthouses are said to be practising a form of “apartheid” against local travellers, barring them from enjoying certain facilities. All such hotels should be blacklisted unless they refrain from discriminating against local tourists. Moreover, there should be accommodation facilities especially targeted at the local travellers, who may not have the financial ability to pay the very high rates demanded by certain hotels. In any case, all hotels must be informed to give preferential rates to locals.

Two million tourists is an impressive number, but we have to remember that some of our neighbouring countries get ten times more. We too can reach those numbers if we strive harder.

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