Tackling tourism challenges

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and Minister of Tourism Development, Lands and Christian Religious Affairs John Amaratunga at the workshop

• Following is the address by Minister of Tourism Development, Lands and Christian Religious Affairs, John Amaratunga at the Public-Private Tourism Workshop on the Government’s Economic Delivery Program

I would like to start by welcoming all of you, Sri Lanka’s tourism industry stakeholders from both the Government and private sectors. I wish to thank the Honourable Prime Minister for taking the initiative to organise this meeting, bringing all key players under one roof so that we could collectively chart the way forward.

I know some of you may have certain apprehensions, but let me assure you that this is not going to be another talk shop. It is going to be a very important meeting where the key focus will be on implementing what we identify as top priorities. 

The team that will conduct the workshop will elaborate during the course of the day, the specific course of action that needs to be initiated by each one of us once the top priorities are identified, keeping in mind that the main focus of this exercise will be the execution of the Government’s economic delivery program. Therefore by the end of the day we hope to begin implementation of a set of proposals to move our industry forward. 

It must be remembered that it is the passion, creativity and determination of all of you that has made Sri Lanka one of the top tourism destinations in the world today. That same passion, creativity and determination is required to overcome some of the challenges we face. We need to come up with durable mechanisms to ensure sustainable growth through fast and effective implementation of decisions.

With the assistance of many of you present here today we have been able to develop ‘Sri Lanka’s Tourism Vision 2025 and Tourism Strategic Plan 2017-2025’ which have already received Cabinet approval. 

As you all know we had over two million arrivals for the first time in our history last year. We started off this year with Vogue magazine Paris describing Sri Lanka as one of the most fashionable destinations to visit in 2017. While looking to increase the number of visitors we are also very keen to attract the up-market, high spending tourists in keeping with the high quality product that we have on offer.

With the growing numbers we need to also keep in mind the increasing importance of the tourism industry on both the rural and national economy. Last year it is estimated that tourism earnings increased to $ 3.5 billion from three billion the year before. This year we hope to reach the $ 4 billion mark. According to the latest data there are around 150,000 individuals directly employed in the tourism and hospitality industries. In addition another 700,000 are indirectly involved in the tourism industry. These numbers are growing even as we speak. 

But so are some of the issues. Many of you have met me on various occasions and highlighted the issues and challenges you face. This is a good forum to take up some of those issues. 

One of the biggest impediments to progress is the lack of coordination between the key Government institutions related to tourism. These include State institutions vested with the subjects of coast conservation, wildlife, culture and heritage, airport and aviation, excise, transport and civil aviation, police, sports, etc. In many instances issues related to these institutions ultimately end up on our table and the tourism industry becomes the victim. 

If we are to take tourism to the next level, we need to come up with an effective mechanism to coordinate between these key agencies in order to iron out the issues faced by the industry. An example is the recent issue with regard to the non-availability of sanitary facilities at Sigiriya. Many were quick to point the finger at my Ministry but we are not the ones responsible for maintaining these facilities – it is the Central Cultural Fund that comes under the Ministry of Education, Culture and Heritage. Issues at the airport is another case in point. 

During my recent visit to Europe one of the biggest problems that many spoke about was the connectivity issue. I kept hearing about the difficulty to travel to Colombo from Europe. Whatever one might say, the pull-out of the national carrier from France and Germany, two of our biggest markets in Europe, has had an adverse impact on the tourism industry. Today there are no direct flights from these countries and it is a huge impediment for tourism promotion.

The tourism industry is also facing many issues due to the stringent excise laws and heavy taxation including after-hours licensing fees. This has contributed to the lack of evening entertainment which tourists look forward to. If we are to develop the tourism industry we need to have night time entertainment at least in the city of Colombo which will see the addition of thousands of rooms in the near future, by being flexible with the licensing provisions.

Another issue is the harassment of tourists by touts and beach boys. I hear of stories where this is happening even in the Fort area in Colombo. The operation of unlicensed bars and restaurants, overcharging of tourists on sightseeing tours, boat trips and wildlife safaris, arresting of unlicensed tour guides etc. are all areas that come under the purview of the police and stringent implementation of the law is required if we are to sustain the industry. 

Another bottleneck that investors and developers often complain about is the difficulty and undue delay in obtaining local authority approvals for new projects. These are some of the areas that must be focused on in order to move forward.

Coming back to the theme of today’s program, I wish to emphasise that by the end of the day, we must identify the projects we need to start on first. As part of the overall economic delivery program, we will put in place mechanisms for collaboration and escalation. This will result in governance structures that will enable faster decision making. 

We are getting down to business but we need your help. I’m looking forward to working with you and hope that you will continue to commit your time and resources to take tourism in Sri Lanka to the next level. 

Thank you!