Tourism development for dummies? Not quite

• Why developing a successful tourism industry is far more complicated than most people realise

This article explains in simple terms why tourism development is a complex task, far more challenging than many of the seemingly straightforward solutions being suggested today. It looks at the bigger picture and why successful tourism development requires much more than attracting more tourists, targeting high spenders or launching promotional campaigns

There is much discussion these days about the future direction of Sri Lanka tourism. Almost everyone seems to have an opinion about what should be done. Some say we must attract more tourists. Others insist that we should forget about numbers and concentrate only on high-value tourists who spend more money. There are calls for better marketing, more international airlines, new hotels, better infrastructure and a host of other initiatives.

With the widespread use of social media and the emergence of AI tools such as ChatGPT, there is certainly no shortage of advice and recommendations. Some of these suggestions are quite sensible, while others seem to be made without a proper understanding of how the tourism industry really works.

We cannot all be high value

One of the most frequently heard suggestions is that Sri Lanka must move towards high-value tourism. Certainly, we must earn more from tourism. But does that mean we should concentrate only on wealthy visitors?

There is a misconception that high-value tourism simply means attracting rich tourists who stay in expensive luxury hotels. While this segment is certainly important, it is only one part of the tourism market.

Tourists come from different backgrounds, with different interests, expectations and spending capacities. There are backpackers, young independent travellers, families, middle-income holidaymakers, nature lovers, adventure seekers, cultural tourists, wellness travellers and affluent visitors seeking exclusive experiences.

In fact, the middle segment is perhaps the most important of all. It provides a reasonably stable flow of visitors, supports a wide range of hotels and tourism businesses, and helps sustain employment across the industry.

The lower-spending segment also has a role. A backpacker may not spend much on accommodation, but may stay longer, eat at small local restaurants, use public transport and spend money in villages and communities that may otherwise receive little benefit from tourism.

What we need is a healthy and carefully managed mix of visitors, with a gradual improvement in the overall value that tourism brings to the country.

This is the basic thinking behind the Managed Yield, Controlled Volume and Diversified Tourism (MYCVD) model that I have been advocating. (https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/new-tourism-strategy-model-balanced-sri-lanka-srilal-miththapala-pzsic/) 

Changing the market mix is not like turning on a tap

We cannot simply announce that from next year we want more high-value tourists and expect them to arrive.

These visitors have different expectations. They may want better accommodation, comfortable and reliable transport, good restaurants, interesting experiences, knowledgeable guides, efficient airports, clean public facilities and professional service.

Tourism is a discretionary purchase. Nobody has to come to Sri Lanka for a holiday. There are many other attractive destinations competing for the same traveller.

Therefore, before we start promising a better tourism experience, we must first make sure that we can deliver it.

This is where I have concerns of arbitrarily setting tourism targets. The latest is that by 2030 we are planning to reach 4 million arrivals and earn $ 10 billion.Which means in four years we hope to double our arrivals and triple our earnings, and we still don’t have a strategy and marketing plan to do so yet. From what I know no Asian country had managed to do this in the past. 

Everything is connected

Suppose we want to develop the Eastern Province as a more attractive destination for middle- and higher-spending tourists.

First, tourists must be able to reach the area conveniently. This means good roads, reliable transport, perhaps improved domestic air services, and better connections with other important destinations.

We also need interesting things for visitors to do. Simply staying in a hotel and going to the beach will not be sufficient for many travellers. There must be properly developed excursions, nature experiences, cultural activities, marine recreation, local food experiences and opportunities to engage with communities.

We need reliable electricity, water supplies, waste management, public conveniences, safety arrangements and effective local administration.

Then, having developed a worthwhile product, we must identify which international markets are most likely to be interested, and undertake carefully targeted marketing and promotional campaigns.

All this takes planning, money, trained people, coordination and, most importantly, time.

There is little point in promoting a destination internationally if tourists cannot reach it conveniently. There is little point in building new hotels if there are insufficient trained employees to operate them, and attracting more visitors to an already crowded attraction without first improving its management.

Unfortunately, tourism development is sometimes approached as a collection of separate projects rather than as one coordinated program.

We have attractions. But are we managing them properly?

Sri Lanka is blessed  to have an extraordinary concentration of natural and cultural attractions within a relatively small area.

At certain times, visitors to attractions such as Sigiriya and Yala encounter overcrowding, long queues, traffic congestion and poor visitor management.

The solution is not necessarily to stop visitors coming. It is to manage the attractions better, regulate visitor flows where necessary, improve facilities, introduce appropriate technology, and develop alternative attractions and experiences that can spread visitors more widely.

There are many lesser-known places in Sri Lanka that have considerable tourism potential. But they cannot simply be opened up indiscriminately. They must be carefully developed with proper environmental safeguards, visitor facilities, trained personnel and management systems.

This is particularly important in wildlife and nature tourism, where the very attraction that draws visitors can be damaged by excessive or poorly managed visitation.

The people problem

Who is going to look after all these tourists?

Sri Lanka’s tourism industry has experienced a serious loss of trained and experienced personnel over the past several years. Many skilled employees have left the country, while others have moved into different occupations.

We need better practical training, language skills, customer service, supervisory capabilities, professional guiding, culinary skills and management development.

We also need to make tourism employment more attractive by improving working conditions, career opportunities and the recognition given to skilled employees.

And developing people takes time. We cannot produce an experienced chef, a good hotel manager or a knowledgeable wildlife guide overnight.

More revenue. But who benefits?

We often discuss tourism earnings in billions of dollars, but rarely examine how widely these earnings are distributed through the economy.

A tourist staying at an expensive hotel may contribute substantial revenue to the establishment. But how much of that spending reaches local farmers, fishermen, transport operators, small restaurants, guides, craft producers and other businesses?

If we are serious about making tourism a driver of national economic development, we must deliberately create stronger links between tourism businesses and surrounding communities.

It means creating genuine opportunities for local people to supply goods and services, develop small businesses, participate in tourism experiences and earn a reasonable income from the industry.

A higher-value tourism industry should not simply mean more profitable hotels. It should mean greater economic value reaching a wider section of society.

This is why diversification is such an important part of the MYCVD approach. We need to spread tourism geographically, across different products and experiences, and across a wider range of businesses and communities.

Marketing cannot work in isolation

We must first decide which visitor segments we want to attract, understand their needs and expectations, and develop the products and services that will appeal to them.

For example, promoting wildlife photography holidays, wellness retreats, cultural experiences or premium nature tourism requires quite different approaches from promoting conventional beach holidays.

There is no point in spending millions telling the world what a wonderful destination Sri Lanka is if the product we offer does not consistently live up to that promise.

In tourism, as in any other business, we must be careful not to over-promise and under-deliver.

Positioning and branding – What does Sri Lanka really stand for?

Another important issue that we seem to be still groping around in the dark about is Sri Lanka’s positioning as a tourism destination. What exactly is our unique selling proposition (USP)? What makes us different from the many other destinations competing for the same tourists? We have beautiful beaches, wildlife, culture, heritage and nature, but so do many other countries. Simply saying that we have everything in one small island is not enough. 

We need to clearly identify what makes the Sri Lankan experience truly distinctive, decide which markets and visitor segments we want to appeal to, and develop a strong, consistent destination brand around that promise. And importantly, the actual experience we offer must live up to that promise. Without such clear positioning, our marketing campaigns risk becoming a collection of attractive pictures and catchy slogans, without a strong message that sets Sri Lanka apart.

A gradual transition, not an overnight miracle

In the MYCVD model, i have considered a gradual transition from approximately 2.7 million arrivals in 2026 towards a planning threshold of around 4.5 million by 2032. Rather than assuming that all these visitors will be high-spending tourists, the model envisages a more balanced market, with approximately 35% in the lower-spending segment, 45% in the middle segment and 20% in the higher-spending segment by 2032.

Based on different assumptions about how successfully the industry develops, we have considered three possible tourism earnings outcomes for 2032: a conservative scenario of US$6.5 billion, a central MYCVD target of US$7.5 billion, and a more ambitious stretch scenario of US$8 billion.

It requires improvements in the entire tourism offering, a gradual shift in the visitor mix, better connectivity, stronger service standards, more attractive experiences and greater spending opportunities.

And there is another important consideration. We cannot keep increasing visitor numbers indefinitely. The carrying-capacity research that my colleague and I undertook earlier (https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/tourist-arrivals-how-much-enough-srilal-miththapala-dafuc/) suggested a broad national planning threshold of around 4.2–4.5 million annual visitors.

This is not a rigid scientific ceiling for every part of the country, but it is a useful warning that growth must be managed with due regard to infrastructure, environmental limits and the quality of the visitor experience.

Who is looking after the bigger picture?

Airports, aviation, railways, roads, wildlife conservation, archaeology, local government, environmental protection, vocational training, investment promotion and many other areas all play an important role. So proper tourism development actually cuts across many ministries. 

But tourists do not experience Sri Lanka as a collection of government departments. They experience it as one destination.

A tourist does not care whether a badly maintained access road is the responsibility of the Road Development Authority or a local council. Nor does a visitor distinguish between the different agencies responsible for poor facilities at a national park or archaeological site.

That is why tourism needs a properly coordinated national development strategy, with clear priorities, responsibilities, budgets, timelines and mechanisms to monitor implementation.

But preparing a plan is only the beginning. The real test is whether the necessary agencies work together to implement it, whether funding is available, and whether someone is held responsible for delivering the results.

Seeing the whole picture

We cannot develop airports without considering transport connections, build new hotels without developing skilled people, attract higher-spending visitors without offering experiences that justify their expenditure, and cannot claim tourism is benefiting the country unless a reasonable share of those benefits reaches ordinary people.

Are we developing the entire tourism industry in a coordinated manner to attract the right mix of visitors, give them a worthwhile experience, earn more from their visits, and distribute those benefits more widely, without damaging the very assets that attract them?

And unless we begin to see it, we may continue celebrating impressive arrival numbers and announcing ambitious revenue targets, without making the fundamental changes needed to build a genuinely successful and sustainable tourism industry.