Exports decline by 2.8%; tourism must be part of exports

The University of Colombo, in a landmark project on sustainable tourism development for members of the media, hosted some of the key thought leaders of the industry at the iconic Senate Hall of the University of Colombo. 

A director on the boards of private and public sector organisations, Dr. Rohantha Athukorala, a former Chairman of the Sri Lanka Export Development Board and Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau, commented that Sri Lanka was currently confronting a challenge with overall exports declining by 2.8% while the trade gap has widened to 7.5%, which is not healthy for a country which is trying to meet $ 15 billion in foreign debt payment in the next four years. 

The silver lining is the tourism industry, which is predicting to earn $ 3.1 billion as at end November 2016. Technically tourism can be part of the exports of a country but the industry must innovate together with strong marketing to really get higher quality tourists. If we do not do this the sustainability of the industry can be challenged in the development agenda, he said.

The latest research from Harvard Development Center Professor Ricardo Hausman, who has been hired as a consultant by Sri Lanka, reveals that unless the country connects to the knowledge industry and differentiates itself, even the number one foreign exchange earner for Sri Lanka, the apparel industry, will not be able to compete given the aggressive strategies adopted by Bangladesh and Vietnam, stated Dr. Athukorala, who was trained by Prof. Housman in Executive Education Studies at the Harvard Kennedy School. 

“We have no option but to innovate or perish to global competition in the years to come,” he said. The latest data released by the Government last week revealed that November’s exports declined by 3.4% with apparel also declining by 6.6% and the trade gap widening by 47%, which does not augur well for the country. 

The former Chairman of the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau recommended that academia must research global tourism best practices and share these with policymakers and the private sector so that an innovation roadmap can be charted for the next 10 years. This has been done successfully by the apparel industry, Ceylon tea, Ceylon cinnamon and Ceylon sapphires but he cautioned that it was a long journey and required committed work from the private and public sector. He added that from his experience, results would take time to materialise. 

The speaker congratulated the Head of the Department of Economics at the University of Colombo, Prof. Rev. W. WImalaratne and the founder of the tourism program at Colombo University Dr. Suranga Silva for championing this for the industry and country based on the insights shared by Prof. Hausman.