Future of tourism

Tuesday, 6 October 2015 00:02 -     - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

By Shehana Dain

Cinnamon Hotels & Resorts marked the occasion of ‘World Tourism Day 2015’ with the first-ever ‘Future of Tourism & Responsible Travel for Driving Revenue’ Summit.

The event was held on 28 September at the Cinnamon Lakeside Colombo. The summit featured global experts exploring future tourism trends as well as responsible travel practices for driving revenue. The event brought together imminent personalities of the industry, including 300 CEOs, Managing Directors and Managers.

“When looking at the future of tourism it’s very important to look at the four mega trends. The first is demographic change which refers to a population that constitutes of a higher percentage of elderly people and fewer young people. This is a global phenomenon and can be found in emerging markets. This affects tourism as well,” explained the curator for the first session ITB Berlin Scientific Director Prof. Dr. Roland Conrady on his opening remarks.

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“The second is dynamic shift which is more focused towards the Asian region, so it should be noted that it favours Sri Lanka. The third is de-carbonisation; that is key elements involved in reducing carbon elements by converting to renewable energy and adapting to green tourism. The travel industry is deeply affected here due to high fuel consumption; however unlike other industries, the tourism industry needs to keep natural resources intact. The final aspect according to him is digitisation. “We are witnessing the fourth era of the industry revolution. The rise of the internet has placed technology as a number one factor for the future of companies. The tourism industry should transform and adapt to digitisation,” Conrady added.

The long day began with a keynote address by a home grown Nobel Prize winner who is also the Intergovernmental panel on Climate Change Vice President Mohan Munasinghe. He spoke on ‘How sustainable is our future?’

Munasinghe touched the environmental crisis which has lead to the global dilemma of climate change. This has been a result of malpractices of businesses which operate with the short term financial motive.

In his speech he urged the Government to place the tourism industry as the cornerstone to push sustainability development to the community adapting sustainomics.

“The tourism industry should make decision makers see sustainable tourism as a key element of integral nation development strategy.”

“Tourism and simultaneously the economic landscape in Sri Lanka today are booming. However rapid financial growth in the world has lead to multiple threats globally, which undermines sustainable development efforts and poverty alleviation. If as a community and an industry financial prosperity could be achieved without disturbing the balance in the world that is called real development,” he noted.

 

 

The rich is getting richer and the poor is getting poorer

Munasinghe stressed that inequality is one of the key dilemmas the world has to face. Quoting IMF’s Christine Lagarde he stated that 85 richest people in the world control the wealth of 30% of the bottom line of the world which is 3.5 billion individuals. According to him the crowding of the rich has positioned the poor in a very vulnerable situation.

“With our experience with the global financial crisis we saw that Governments bailed out big banks by funding them by $ 1.75 trillion and the same Governments will chip in a few billions or millions for matters relating to humanity. Yet these banks still haven’t come out of the crisis.”

“This affected the developing countries as one million jobs were lost. Governments went on to become bankrupt. This is a clear example to show that the finance pillar can be a real bubble, but I still feel the world hasn’t learnt enough from the 2008 crackdown. The rich walk over 100 million of the world population who are poor and jobless, in order for them to get richer.”

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How tourism can contribute to sustainability

Elaborating on how tourism as an industry can contribute to eradicate actions against humanity, Munasinghe highlighted that the responsibility isn’t focused only upon the business organisation; both ends of the industry should actively participate in the cause.

“How can we do this?” he asked.”Hoteliers can contribute to humanity aspects by undertaking CSR projects. By this I do not mean situations where some funds are shifted from one place to another. It can be done by being responsible for your actions to the community, considering wider social responsibilities. Consumers and other industry stakeholders should get on with an integrated external engagement.”

He further noted that the industry can follow current financial trends and conform to sustainability accounting standards taking a triple bottom line approach.

“Tourism unlike many other industries is closely related to nature. There’s an intrinsic value which goes together; today the tourist is well aware and demands responsible tourism. If the stakeholders do not understand this, it would definitely lead to their downfall,” he added.

He further stated that today when it comes to product or service it’s beyond the material aspect. The 21st century consumer values the goodness concept which can be used as a part of nation branding. The satisfaction that customers gain enjoying the beauty aspect cannot be matched by any amount of printed materiality.

 

 

Sustainomics beyond economics

Munasinghe highlighted that the tourism industry in order to survive in the long run should harmonise with the sustainable development triangle.

“Unethical social values lead to economic mal development which subsequently leads to unsustainable development. Therefore the tourism industry should transcend typical stakeholder participation to catalyse the business, civil society and Government interactions to strengthen local, national and global governance.”

Citing an example he noted that one of the very effective areas the industry can look at is focusing on the hot spots of a value chain, where carbon emissions are the highest.

“Look at water management, energy consumption, kitchen management and raw material usage. If you take a single hotel there’s multiple processes that need this evaluation.”

“While we can increase our forex earnings, increase infrastructure development and contribute to employment generation and the local economy it’s clear that one does not see there’s a major leakage out of the host country, price hikes and even burying of local SMEs.” Citing statistics he stated that the dependents on tourism has increased from 375,000 to 1.5 million and this itself shows the impact tourism has as a whole on the community. The ripple affect ultimately affects us all; even the unborn infant has a part to play and a part to expect from the industry. Social capital development, proper education and awareness of communities will significantly reduce the harm to the environment and aid sustainable development.

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The budget tourist; the future traveller

Kicking off the second presentation EuroMonitor International Senior Analyst Shabori Das noted that according to research carried out by EuroMonitor the future tourist will very closely monitor value for money when choosing tourist destinations. “What we have found at EuroMonitor shows that while tourist arrivals are bound to grow by 3.5%- 4% in the next five years simultaneously GDP growth, inbound receipts and inbound arrivals are all growing, while the average spend for a tourist will decrease. This clearly shows that people will be travelling but they will be expecting value for money or rather budget options.”

“There’s a bright light to the Asia pacific as that’s the region which will be fastest growing region in tourism arrivals in the next five years which will be closely followed by Middle Eastern and African regions. This shows that tourists are looking for exotic locations to travel at a lesser cost.”

 

 

The Indian and American factor

She then stressed the fact how important India is for the Sri Lanka to grow as a tourist destination. Inbound tourists country wise China takes the lead with a big gap as it offers the whole package with multicultural experiences. India comes 11th in the list and Sri Lanka is positioned as the 21st, she stated.

“What’s interesting is that inbound tourists who come to China travel to neighbouring countries such as Malaysia, Hong Kong and Thailand. This provided the traveller the perfect combination of budget travel with exotic location. Sri Lanka stands at a very good position for strong growth because India and Sri Lanka are very close in the geographical aspect and any traveller who’s coming to India can easily come to Sri Lanka. Also growth potential is very high.”

Das then took India, Maldives and Sri Lanka for a comparative study; India due to the geographic positioning and Maldives due to the same product offering. “In our research we found that these three countries generally cater to the same European countries but what’s interesting is USA is one of India’s main source markets. Sri Lanka as well as Maldives should target the USA as their next possible source market.”

 

Driver for tourism growth

Das touched points which drive the tourism industry and subsequently advised which strategies stakeholders should take.

“We observed from 2010 to 2014 that airlines were the most dominant form of travelling globally. Most of us will argue that yes it’s obviously the case because airlines have high connectivity. However one of the key reasons we found is that airlines are popular not just because of connectivity but also lack of time. This was the case in all seven regions globally. Moreover in Eastern Europe, western Europe and Asia Pacific you can still see rails and cruise have a significant part to play as well.” The next thing the research firm had analysed was that 75% of the tourists travel for leisure purposes.

“Within that 75% relaxation – sun, beach and water was the most sought out destination. Sri Lanka stands at a very good position here. If Sri Lanka markets itself in a proper manner they can achieve better ROI.”

 

 

Be alert mid-priced hotels!

Stressing the vulnerable situation mid-priced hotels face Das said: “In 2014 we observed that out of the five geographies which are UK, China, USA, India and Germany, the concept of luxury and budget accommodation witnessed the strongest growth. The reason why I chose these regions is because they are common as source markets of Sri Lanka and Maldives.”

“Mid price hotels are still quite popular in USA, Germany and UK as well, however not so much in India and China where budget hotels constitute a lot in the industry. Furthermore it’s expected that luxury and budget in the next five years are going to squeeze out mid-priced. One of the trends that we observed is that either travellers are going and spending immense amounts of money for luxury and quality service or else they go for budget accommodation. In between mid-priced falls in neither category hence any of the companies looking at mid price should be re-evaluating their business models and target the growing budget and luxury accommodation.

 

 

Evolution of travel booking

“One of the consumer surveys that we do showed that the foremost method for any sort of travel booking is the internet; we Google almost everything. One of the key things that we focused is how international travellers are booking their flights and accommodation and any other travel activity. Now in India and China we observed that more than 50% traveller bookings were done by mobile travel channel.”

According to her mobile travel apps have become extremely common around the globe however the scenario in Sri Lanka is quite different as the use of mobile travel app usage in here is negligible.

“Any company in this industry needs to look at mobile travel sale. This is a section that can no longer be ignored by any economy which is planning to become a tourist capital.”

 

 

The Alpha traveller

The new traveller will be known as the ‘Alpha traveller’ Das revealed which is the generation, born after 2010. According to EuroMonitor in 2030 one billion new people will be travelling and most of them will be alpha travellers.

“One of the key things for them will be connectivity in both online and offline methods; another aspect any company should look into is social media to stay relevant and be very visible in social media. They will also be extremely responsible in their travel practices as well, which will result the alpha traveller to be extremely sustainable,” Das opined.

She further noted that tech giant’s entrance to the leisure sector was another trend that was growing. Citing examples she stated that Amazon destinations which was launched in April 2015, Google travel tools and tripadvisor’s instant booking feature which evolved from a review website are very popular among users today.

 

 

The world in 2025

TrendOne Head of Strategy Rene Massatti shared his insight highlighting that the tourism industry like any other industry will be exposed to aggressive tech-advancements. “This will involve robotic technology in the industry where tour guides, hotel assistants even kitchen staff will be replaced by robots,” Massatti added.

“With change happening so fast in today’s world it seems almost impossible to predict what the world will look like 10 years from now. Still there are some game-changing trends that can be already identified today which have a huge impact potential for next years. Most of these trends will have an enormous impact on how we communicate and how companies and brands build and offer their services to consumers. The technology will involve smart everything, attention economy, snatch size media, virtual reality, artificial reality and emotional intelligence.

He commented that companies cannot just stick to traditional promotions today. “Highly personalised promotions have to be done. Data capacity increases in huge amounts every 10 minutes, companies should coordinate this data and technology to drive their marketing tools to cater to the modern consumer.” “Some of these methods are very cheap while some require immense amount of resources but deliver good results. A company should design their business models in a relevant manner.”

 

 

Don’t import ideas; be original!

Taking the stage after lunch was Swiss Hospitality Solutions AG Partner Wilhelm K. Weber who was also the curator for the second session. He emphasised the significance of home-grown investments and business ideas.

“For me as a Swiss national it’s all about a country’s home grown ideas; that’s how we grew as a country. What I have to say is, keep the importing of ideas to a minimum. Your country has all the resources; you don’t need to fill the top management with expats. You know your country more than anyone else,” Weber highlighted.

“With big international players coming in there’s a big risk for a country to be overrun by them because some of these powerful hotel chains will expect local Governments to build the infrastructure that is from tax payer money and this would cripple the Government funds.” Citing an example he said that in countries like Egypt powerful foreign players have come in and taken full control of their tourism industry.

He went on to say that the primary after-effect that can occur from such transactions is the obstruction of entrepreneurship that stems within the country which can affect the sustainability balance immensely in the long run.

 

 

Tomorrow’s tourist

Taking the stage after Wilhelm was the only Professional Futurologist specialising in travel and tourism Dr. Ian Yeoman. He shared his thoughts on the mentality of the future tourist and how to cater to them.

“More wealth creates more avenues to travel and explore new destinations whereas decreased wealth returns us to basics. Rising income has been the main driving force to create the demanding well informed traveller today.”

“Today the world is full of money which has lead to a global deflation which has made life difficult to hotels and airlines. However this has lead to asset inflation,” Yeoman added.

He went on to say that today the meaning of luxury is changing where luxury us no longer accessible only for the wealthy few. Under the new trends emerging markets have high demand for luxury items.

“Today the consumer is willing to desert once favoured company, when even a slightest bit disappointed,” he highlighted.

 

 

Destination branding

There has been quite a buzz regarding the branding aspect of the country to promote the tourism industry. The Author and Advisor for National, Regional and City Branding Dr. Robert Grover shared his expertise relating to this topic.

“The most important thing is when people make opinions about places; what matters most is the opinion about the place. What builds image is reality not what you say in the mainstream media.

“When it comes to city branding and nation branding, we want to stand out; we want a unique positioning for our country for what it is and the global community to recognise it. The problem now is that all these countries and their branding image all look the same.” He stressed the fact that places are not products even though there’s a misconception regarding it and there are even some experts who write about it. “Places are not products. It’s the environment in which people live and which economic processes take place and places always offer multiple products.” Citing an example he said, “Even the recent project that I heard of ‘Cinnamon Life’ that’s not one product. That place offers products like leisure product, tourism product, and retail investment product and a shopping product. Even there we have multiple products.”

 

 

Destination branding nonsense

Taking the summit by surprise Grover said that destination branding is nonsense. “I don’t think it’s worth because it’s based on the argument that through a big mass media campaign which is homogenous and one sided and people think that it’s going to help the image of our country. It won’t, tourism is one of the products a country will offer and to spend millions of dollars on one campaign with nice images is not going to help the industry.”

“I’m not saying that such methods haven’t brought in tourists but it’s not branding its destination marketing. This is what most countries should think about today. We continue to do tourism advertising which is fine but when it comes to branding the majority think the only way is mass media. We hope and we think that will create an image for us but it doesn’t,” he added.

 

 

The sharing economy: Transforming tourism

The sharing economy is a business model built on decentralised networks and ‘access over ownership’ powered by new technologies. This is affecting many sectors of today’s global economy, including tourism. World Economic Forum Advisor on Shared Economy April Rinne went in depth to explain how it will affect the local tourism industry.

Rinne went on to say: “A recent report by PWC report says that sharing economy businesses is getting very big and very fast. In 2013 $ 3.5 billion was invested and in 2014 it staggered to more than $ 10 billion and it will keel on growing, it’s estimated that today sharing economy companies are worth more than 100 billion by 2025 the sharing economy is expected to generate $ 335 billion. What’s amazing fact is all these will are with invisible infrastructure and zero inventories which it definitely supports the sustainability concept.”

Citing the globally successful company Airbnb, she stated that the company has managed to increase its accommodation capacity in 2014 within two weeks than what the Hilton hotel chain did all year, also how the company managed to increase accommodation in six years which the conventional hotels industry could do in 93 years and all this was done via the sharing economy.

“The sharing economy affects almost all stakeholders in the tourism industry. It builds communities economically and socially. There are lot of home sharing and property sharing websites worldwide. The future traveller wants to connect with communities and that’s a plus point. If this can be applied to the Sri Lankan tourism industry so many will participate and benefit economically.”

 

 

Responsible product innovation for tomorrow’s traveller

Taking the stage for the final presentation was the University Of Colombo Department Of Zoology Former Head Prof. Sarath Kotagama, who spoke of the gravity of climate change. “We are spending earth’s natural capital putting such strain on natural functions on earth that the ability of the planet to sustain the ecosystems for the future generations can no longer be taken for granted, almost a billion go hungry every day and 20 people die of hunger each day,” he said

“Despite all this travel for holidays and other forms of leisure account for just over half of all international tourists that’s 52% of 568 million, why is this?” he asked.

“Today’s traveller is demanding adventures products that can be hazardous to the individual and the public. The tourism industry is expected to cater to these needs and come up with innovations from nature. We have ample eco-tourism assets why don’t we utilise them, to build a tourism product. The industry should look into it while makings sure the environment is unharmed.” While highlighting the importance of interpretation as a communication method to attract tourist Kotagama went on to say, “Tourism despite its saying has often excluded people. The future is inclusion and this becomes a major part of responsible tourism. The emergence of eco-tourism is evidence for the new breed of that philosophies inclusion of people as partners and not just recipients of benefits.”

 

Pix by Upul Abayasekara

Tourism: The golden egg!

Welcome address by Cinnamon Hotels & Resorts President Ajit Gunewardene at Cinnamon Future of Tourism Summit 2015



Honourable Minister, global experts and professionals who have graciously accepted our invitation to be here as speakers, distinguished invitees and partners of the Cinnamon Future of Tourism Summit, representatives of the media, fellow colleagues and friends from the travel, tourism and hospitality industry, ladies and gentlemen.

Conceptualised around the theme for the World Tourism Day this year – which is ‘One billion tourists; One billion opportunities’ –BUP_DFT_DFT-10-11-02 we at Cinnamon are delighted to present the Cinnamon Future of Tourism Summit for the benefit of the tourism industry in Sri Lanka.

Firstly, I would like to thank all the organisations that have partnered with Cinnamon in order to make this event a possibility. A special thanks to the Airline partner – SriLankan Airlines, the International Finance Corporation, Strategic partner – Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau, Conference partner – Sri Lanka Convention Bureau, the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority, the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce, Digital partner – 230interactive and Creative partner – Landor Associates.

Sri Lanka Tourism is a joint venture between the Government, its regulators and the private sector stakeholders; be they large corporates, SMEs or individuals. We all have a joint role and responsibility in shaping the future of a sustainable tourism industry in Sri Lanka.

This industry has the potential to cure many if not all the ills of the country. Be it the balance of payments deficit, creation of employment, attraction of investment and generation of revenue to the Government. It can be a significant contributor for long-term economic growth. It is in fact the low-hanging fruit. It is the golden egg.

 

 

At the crossroads

However, today we have reached crossroads. We are at a juncture where we have the opportunity to create a long term tourism product and have to make the decision as to which road we will take.

One of the roads we could take will be to allow ad hoc un-planned development with very little oversight, quality checks and regulation. There is a school of thought that believes this route, where self-regulation and market forces determine the equilibrium, is the way forward.

The other road, some may call it the utopian road, is to create – on what is essentially a blank canvas, a unique and sustainable industry where all stakeholders will benefit over the long term. An industry that focuses on minimum quality standards manages and monitors over-visitation and over-development, protects national treasures and resources etc. Essentially an industry that doesn’t kill the goose that lays the golden egg!

 

 

Travel in 2020 and beyond

Globally a new way of travelling has emerged described as ‘deep’ travel. This is all about getting under the skin of a place. The modern traveller already seeks out authenticity and real experiences rather than fake culture packaged-up for tourists.

But travel in 2020 and beyond, will go further – it will be about the appreciation of local distinctiveness, the idiosyncrasies and the detail, the things that make a place unique and special.

It will be about the fragrance of fresh Sri Lankan spices cooked in a village home in Dambulla, it will be about spending a night in a cattle farmer’s tree house in Tissamaharama and enjoying a black tea served in a coconut shell, it will be about the feeling when you are in the middle of the ocean off Mirissa right beside the blue whale, in awe of the natural world.

It could be about getting away from the busy, fast-paced routine and appreciating the serenity in the lifestyle of a hermit in any of the sanctuaries or monasteries in Sri Lanka. Or even in Colombo – which is set to be the modern and vibrant metropolis of South Asia, we should look to create the mix of the future while retaining the best of the past; the hustle and bustle of street life and the markets, with the glitz and glamour of contemporary urbanity.

 

 

Tomorrow’s tourist

Tomorrow’s tourist will come to Sri Lanka in search of authentic experiences such as these and if we do not take the right decisions today, we won’t be able to offer these tomorrow.

In all our efforts we should strive to integrate the economy to the industry, so that we have authentic, sustainable tourism products which are economically feasible. This will ensure that we do not destroy what is good, what is unique and what is valuable, but rather enhance it.

We can learn from the mistakes of other destinations as we decide the path we will travel. Sri Lanka is a remarkable destination with diverse characteristics and experiences – the landscape, the people, the culture, and the food, all unique and un-spoilt.

 

 

Which road will we take?

So, which road will we take; the left fork or the right fork? Or maybe there is a middle path.

I believe this conference will give insights, which will give all of us food for thought to deliberate on these matters and hopefully to support the outcome that all of us want – which is: A Sri Lanka with a unique and sustainable tourism industry.

Thank you and I hope you have an insightful day!

 

First session panel discussion

The customary first session panel discussion consisted of SLTPB Chairman Rohantha Athukorala, EuroMonitor Senior Analyst Shabori Das, TrendOne Head of Strategy Rene Massatti, IFC Senior Investment Policy Officer Shaun Mann, Cox and Kings India Head Relationships and Supplier Management Karan Anand and was moderated by the summit’s first session curator ITB Berlin Scientific Director Prof. Dr. Roland Conrady.

 

 

Q: What’s the tourism strategy of Sri Lanka with regard to technology?

Rohantha Athukorala: We are at crossroads when it comes to the industry. There’s so much of work to do. The marketing plan was done somewhere around February-March 2015 and now based on feedback we are first going ahead with development with our creative partner. Seven top global ad agencies have voiced that they want to come in. I think 9 October we will evaluate, post that to the board and from there to the Minister. We have to wait until we get a proper creative system before we go digital. Yes we should have very strong digital marketing, but we also need to have digital content which is relevant. We are trying to get our basics in order and then only we will go digital.

 

 

Q: Studies show that mid-price hotels will be adversely affected in the future. Is that relevant for Sri Lanka?

Rohantha Athukorala: Currently we’re looking at $ 160 but at this price you know that your ROIs are at 6%-7% which is not really good. When you have a supply chain somewhat little bit pricey so we have no option, we have to go to a $ 250 tourist if you want to get a ROI of 9%-10%. So it’s not a case where you look at mid range or you look at budget tourist; we have to go in search of that $ 250 tourist, if not there’s a question of the financial sense of the investment.

 

 

Q: India is one of Sri Lanka’s prominent source markets. What can Sri Lanka do to meet Indian customer demand?

Karan Anand: We call it the perfect alignment for the destination to take off; Sri Lanka is very close to India in geographical, political and many other ways. Indian’s mainly look for security, food and language meeting comforts. All these are met by Sri Lanka.

You’ll have good connectivity and a good bilateral relationship with India my concern is communication. The tourism board should have a solid communication channel with the ministry.

I think Sri Lanka can be a very strong one week destination but that message has not yet gone across. Dubai has become a hub for Indians to go and stay for two or three nights. If this is communicated properly I think India can bring huge potential for tourism in Sri Lanka to utilise their resources during the off peak seasons. We can make Sri Lanka a year around destination.

 

 

Q: What are the perspective tourism investments for Sri Lanka?

Shaun Mann: Majority of the investors that come to us, it’s business hotels. We have shied away from pure leisure type investments for the past decade. It depends on the destination; in Sri Lanka there’s a very interesting trend where the route from Colombo to Galle and east towards Hambantota are developed. While there are some very good investment opportunities in the under developed beach areas in the eastern coast, which have accessibility issues.

 

 

Q: Would you prefer to talk to a robot or a real person when you go on a holiday?

Rene Massati: 100 years ago people were really afraid to of the concept of the car and they wanted to stick with the horse. So what I can say is yes for now it looks like it’s scary but it’s going to happen whether we like it or not. It’s meant to be; sometimes we need an eye opener to see what’s out there and what’s possible. My answer for the question is I don’t care. I have had very good experience with consumers as well as very bad experiences with the service industry. My point is technology will play a role in the future whether we like it or not.

Shabori Das: The use of technology is imperative but in the next two to three years what we can see is globally those who are in the Western region will experience this more than the Eastern part of the world. So Sri Lanka is still in that stage where bookings are coming up with online channels and mobile travel bookings are going to take place. Technology is definitely going to take off but the variation will be different. It’s definitely going to be at least five to ten years behind the western countries.

 

 

Q: What can Sri Lanka do to retain the tourists who are diverging to cheaper destinations?

Shabori Das:  if a tourist decides to go on a backpacking trip he’s going to do that and if an individual decides to go to Europe for that, it can be cheaper as well as expensive. So it’s not about cheap travel, it’s about the experiences you offer that would help a country like Sri Lanka to retain the travellers.

 

Second session panel discussion

The summit concluded with the second panel discussion with constituted of Professional Futurologist in Travel and Tourism Ian Yeoman, Author and Advisor for National Regional and City Branding Dr. Robert Grover, Former Head of University Colombo Department of Zoology Prof. Sarath Kotagama, Advisor on Shared Economy April Rinne, Cinnamon Hotels and Resorts Head of Branding Marketing Dileep Mudadeniya and was moderated by the second session’s curator Swiss Hospitality Solutions AG Partner Wilhelm K. Weber.

 

 

Q: What made Cinnamon come up with an idea to organise a tourism summit?

Dileep Mudadeniya: The reason is that when you look at Sri Lanka product life cycle the tourism industry is at a growth stage of that cycle with about 1.8 million tourist arrivals. When we are at a growth stage as market leaders you don’t necessarily try to grab the market share, what you do is you develop an eco-system where growth can be accelerated and developed so that arrivals can be pushed to two million and three million and so on. The strategy behind this is it has to be a collective approach. So what we wanted to do as the market leader is to create that platform for everyone can understand what’s going on and to create that unique opportunity to position ourselves.

 

 

Q: In the process to cater for larger number of tourists, how can Sri Lanka’s eco systems afford such capacities?

Sarath Kotagama: There’s a huge traffic to visit our national parks and unfortunately it has caused fatality to some leopards and other animals. We have statistics that say 50% of the tourists who come to these parks don’t really want to come. So we should reduce this and communicate that there are many other parts in the package.

However wildlife tourism is a big revenue puller. So we have enough space for people who are really interested who will not damage natural resources. Also diversification is important, for other parks which are not properly used. We can handle numbers and give them the best quality but we need the support of the industry. If the industry is unable to target the demand in a proper way this will not be easy.

April Rinne:  I think this issue has two sides. We have built rules and regulations for ownership but not for sharing. We know how to insure a car that we own, the moment we put the car into shared use we get confused as to how to insure it. So when it comes to sharing economy you should look at the rules very closely policy reforms and rethinking.

The other kind of policy is that how can you get proactive on developing those policies. What’s more opportune is the ministry to look into this and take appropriate actions.

 

 

Q: Looking at all of these trends which one do you think is the most relevant one for Sri Lanka?

Ian Yeoman: I’ve mentioned a number of trends but its Sri Lanka’s choice to decide which trend they want to follow. Which country and which scenario to be follow is based on a number of things this should be compared with the rest of the strategies.

 

 

Q: How can Sri Lanka retain travellers with double standards in service when it comes to three-star hotels and five-star hotels?

Robert Grover: What’s more important than avoiding things going wrong is how you handle them; it’s the recovery I think that matters the most. The way you respond to them makes a huge difference. The issue is how they deal with the ignorance and don’t care level.  This is what happens in the sharing economy because the property owners are the first people that will help you and they don’t have any training as such.

 

 

Q: Why isn’t Sri Lanka doing anything about the budget traveller who is the future of tourism?

Dileep Mudadeniya: Currently what’s happening is each one of us has our own ways of marketing. There’s a segmental approach what we are looking at basically is; are we getting 100 people at $ 10 or getting 10 people at $ 100. That’s a call that the Government or policy makers have to make. Currently about 60% of the country’s rooms are three-star or below three-star. Over 5,000 rooms under construction are three-star or below three-star. So essentially bulk of the product in Sri Lanka is three-star or below. So the way forward should be decided by the policy makers to decide whether we should take the luxury path or budget path.

 

 

 

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