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By Shehana Dain
Tourism will be given new direction in a five-year plan currently being compiled by the Government, affirmed Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe yesterday, while insisting the industry needs to do more to get the maximum out of Sri Lanka’s tourists.
Speaking at the Golden Jubilee of the Sri Lanka Tourism Board, the Prime Minister was critical about increasing importance given to volumes rather than value. He advocated that things have to change – and change fast.
Due to the regressive 30-year civil conflict and sluggish post-war policy implementation made in the past, Sri Lanka’s tourism industry has become constrained in terms of holistic growth compared to other countries in the region, he said, adding that Malaysia, Singapore and Maldives were showing exponential growth despite being the latecomers to the tourism sector.
“We are celebrating 50 years in tourism today; what happened to those who came after us? Take Malaysia for instance, they are entertaining 25 million tourists annually and earning over $ 22, Singapore was still a British colony when we established our Tourist Board, today they have 15 million tourists and are earning $ 19 billion. We have to think why we are still lagging behind.”
Addressing the tour operators, the Premier observed that nationwide tours given for tourists did not bring in the value that the country is in dire need of at this juncture.
“We are not looking merely at volume; I’m going to give priority to value. The big projects that we have planned out are going to be upscale. Our Cultural Triangle has about 60 odd places which we show our average traveller and finish it off in half day. To look at a similar number of sites on the Nile Cruise, it takes a minimum of four to five days. We are not selling the country; this is just some tour operators taking them around the country. This won’t happen hereafter in Sri Lanka. Why can’t people spend four to five days in the Cultural Triangle itself? How do you get the maximum out of the tourists and the hospitality industry?”
Quoting the merchant traveller Marco Polo who said that ‘Sri Lanka is the most outstanding island on its side of the world,’ Wickremesinghe noted that he aimed to redirect the tourism policy on this track.
“My Ministry is working on the five-year plan and the tourism sector will be given absolute prominence,” the Prime Minister stressed.
Moreover, outlining the Government’s proposals to boost the hospitality sector throughout the island nation, he invited foreign investors to come in to explore investing opportunities while acknowledging that the Government simply lacks capital to go ahead with all the proposed schemes.
By Charumini de Silva
Special Assignments Minister Dr. Sarath Amunugama believes the future of Sri Lanka’s economic growth lies with the tourism industry, which has largely been successful because the Government has not “interfered”.
The Minister made these remarks at the inauguration ceremony of the 6th Sancharaka Udawa 2016 organised by Sri Lanka Association of Inbound Tour Operators (SLAITO) which will showcase many small, medium and large enterprises and entrepreneurs of the tourism industry on a single platform on 27 to 29 May at the Sirimavo Bandaranaike Memorial Exhibition Centre (BMICH) from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. each day.
Held in concurrence with Sri Lanka Tourism celebrating its golden jubilee he appreciated all the stakeholders for their efforts within 50 years to develop an industry from scratch for which it is a major element of Sri Lanka’s economic growth strategy.
“Traditionally we have been exporters of commodities, but due to a variety of reasons we are not very competitive today in the areas of tea, rubber, coconut and other manufacturers because for all sorts of reasons we are no longer competitive in the global market. The cost of production of those commodities have grown without anybody controlling, supervising it and as a result in the next decade we will see that our traditional commodities will be facing a super human competition. Therefore, we have to find new areas which we are holding the comparative advantage and of those areas tourism is number one,” he stressed.
He said the three sectors – tourism, shipping and garments – are distinguished by the fact that the Government has “kept its cotton picking hands out”.
“In my view, tourism has grown because Government has not interfered. Tourism is one sector which is private sector driven. We must develop these industries in terms of a partnerships. The Government is only a facilitator and a regulator, the work has to be done by the private sector,” he emphasised.
According to the Minister, all major tourist companies in the country established very close links with European tour operators particularly in Germany such as TUI and other companies, but today the product has got diversified.
“Today our competitors are earning $8 to $10 billion from tourism. I must say that we cannot be satisfied with the performance of the tourism industry during the past 50 years in Sri Lanka. Unless tourism and all its related products expands, our economy cannot survive. The future of this country is in your hands,” he pointed out.
Tourism Development, Christian Religious Affairs and Lands Minister John Amaratunga said Sri Lanka is focused on attracting 2.5 million tourists and income of over $3 billion by the end of the year. By 2020 the country hopes to attract $4.5 million tourists and an earn $5 billion.
He said during the 50 years of tourism in Sri Lanka the tour operators have contributed significantly to build the industry.
“Next year May we are planning to host the World Tour Operators Conference here in Sri Lanka, providing an opportunity to international tour operators and agencies to see what Sri Lanka has to offer. In addition we are planning to have many other international tourism events and conferences in Sri Lanka during the year including the Syndicat National Des agents de Voyages (SNAV), the largest travel agents association in France,” he said.
Amaratunga also said that there is a growing demand for Sri Lanka as a wedding destination from Chinese and Indian markets, which is a lucrative and highly competitive market.
Sancharaka Udawa 2016 is an ideal opportunity for those interested in the tourism industry, even students to get a first-hand understanding of what is available in the tourism industry. There will be many stalls, seminars and meetings to facilitate tourism opportunities for the future. Moreover the highlight of this year is the celebration of ‘50 Years’ for Sri Lanka Tourism.
Minister of Special Assignments Dr. Sarath Amunugama will leave for Tokyo, Japan today (28) to represent the President as a panellist at the 22nd International Conference on ‘Future of Asia’ to be held on 30-31 May at the Imperial Hotel.
The panel discussion will be under the theme of ‘Meeting the Demand for Infrastructure in Asia’.
Ministers from ASEAN countries, Dr. Surin Pitsuwan, former Secretary General of ASEAN, Hiroshi Watanabe, Governor, CEO OF Japan bank for International Co-operation (JBIC) and Akira Fuji, Editor-in-Chief of Nikkei Asian Review (NAR) will participate as panellists.
