Tourism industry must position itself in Sri Lanka

Reputed marketing personality in the public and private sector Rohantha Athukorala, addressing the 2011 International Conference of the Institute for Hospitality Industry – UK in Sri Lanka, said that the industry must be commended for the strong and sharp strategies adopted to stay alive during the last 30 years.

However, he pointed out that it must now take the high ground and develop a distinctive position in Sri Lanka in relation to the rest of the other industries, so that it can elucidate priority attention in the new growth agenda of the country. His theme for the address was ‘Tourism Fit in the Changing Landscape of Sri Lanka’.

Athukorala, who is part of many sectors in developing cutting-edge business strategies, cited how the apparel industry worth around 3.5 billion dollars to Sri Lanka today was essentially termed a tailoring industry way back in the 1980s, but today it has transformed itself to be an innovator in the world stage with almost 80 per cent value addition and driving the proposition globally of ‘Garments without Guilt’ that has positioned the country as the ‘sustainable fashion capital of the world’. This has made brand Sri Lanka distinctive in the global stage of business, asserted Athukorala.

The speaker cited how he had firsthand experience of the impact of this proposition when Sri Lanka was the only country featured at the Global WWW Forum in New York last November when the icons of the industry gathered for 100 years of celebration of the WWW fashion industry.

The speaker then took the tea industry, which nets 1.4 billion dollars to Sri Lanka, and explained how the industry had become one under able leadership and was positioning itself as ‘Ceylon Tea, the First Ozone Friendly Tea’ globally and driving the proposition that Ceylon Tea is the highest quality tea in the world. The industry has already contributed almost 700 million for a global marketing campaign on this proposition, which will add value to brand Sri Lanka on the global stage, he commented.

Athukorala then focused on the tourism industry and pointed out that with a revenue turnover of 0.5 billion dollars plus directly to Sri Lanka and a gestation period of two to five years in the developing, a new property will find it hard to get priority attention unless it innovates and takes the high ground by positioning the industry in relation to the rest of the industries in Sri Lanka.

Reiterating that the efforts of the industry in the last two years had been outstanding, he noted that it must now do something for the country to add value to brand Sri Lanka, similar to what has been done by apparel and tea from a positioning platform.

One idea that was floated was to connect the Diaspora to the tourism industry by way of investments or networking to highlight the new brand names that will come into the industry, be it Gateway Hotel or Movenpick, etc.

“Another is to develop GI registration with propositions like Mt. Lavinia to be known for slow food and Sri Lanka Designer Festival. Or it can be to drive Arugam Bay for surfing globally just like the association of Galle with the Literary Festival. May be the Carbon Lung positioning with Sri Lanka is another idea worth pursuing given the climate issues faced globally,” said Athukorala.

The speaker acknowledged that the industry, which has lost almost US$ 7 billion in the 30-year war, was challenged with profitability issues as the construction of a hotel room ranges from 16-25 million, which curtails a stronger and aggressive development agenda and also stunts creative reconstructions.

However, he urged the industry to get together and see how it can be developed into a one billion dollar industry within two years whilst building a unique identity for itself in the business world of Sri Lanka. “It must move away from organic growth and drive for a new growth trajectory,” emphasised Athukorala.