Driving growth in tourism: Bold strategic direction needed

Sri Lanka – a tropical island of beauty and diversity – has all the necessary attributes to become a prominent tourism destination in Asia. Unfortunately, despite the three-decade-old civil war ending in 2009, the successive Governments as well as industry stakeholders failed to develop the tourism industry with a clear strategic direction over the last 16-year period.

Our policymakers need to learn from the tourism planners of the neighbouring Maldives. Since 1983, the authorities of the archipelago have developed five tourism master plans, enabling the South Asian state to establish itself as a leading global tourist destination. These master plans have prioritised sustainable development within the tourism sector while also emphasising the protection of the environment and natural resources. Astute and clever planning has been critical in the Maldives becoming a sought-after choice for vacation and recreation among high-spending tourists in Europe and North America. In 2023, the Maldives earned $ 4.2 billion as tourism receipts – a phenomenal achievement for a country inhabited by a very small population.

Last year, the island was visited by 2.05 million tourists, and this year the Government intends to attract 3 million travellers. The Central Bank figures show that tourism receipts during the first half amounted to $ 1.71 billion, and the full-year target is to generate $ 5 billion. Nevertheless, analysts have rejected the approach of developing the country’s tourism industry in the mould of volume-driven models like Bali and Thailand and instead, have advocated a strategic pursuit, which gives prominence to increasing per-visitor earnings with a focus on high-spending travellers. The recent decision of offering visa waivers to citizens of 40 countries, however, is representative of a move that puts emphasis on driving the volumes, and it does not achieve the best interest of the country. Positioning the country as a choice for budget-conscious travellers has resulted in low room rates across all types of accommodation besides contributing towards low ROIs of the hospitality industry, according to MJF Leisure Chairman Malik Fernando.

The recent launch of the City of Dreams is a highly positive development for the industry, as it offers top-notch casino facilities that would be helpful in attracting high-spending tourists across Asia who are passionate on gambling. At the opening of the facility, Melco CEO Lawrence Ho had viewed Sri Lanka as the most viable gaming territory in the region to tap into the rising wealth creation in India. He had also pointed out that Sri Lanka can be to India, what Macau is to China. For years, many have stressed the necessity of having top-notch casinos to elevate Sri Lanka’s standing in the global tourism industry.

Meanwhile, the reported delay in launching the National Branding campaign has disappointed the industry. The failure of successive administrations to implement an effective and consistent publicity/advertising campaign to communicate the island’s unique selling propositions has been a big drawback. Bureaucratic inefficiencies apart from political interventions have repeatedly undermined the tourism promotional campaigns. In 2009, when the plans were afoot to execute a well-thought-out campaign to woo travellers under the tagline – “Sri Lanka, Small Miracle”, the publicity initiative was hilariously discarded only a month after it had been revealed to the public by the then Tourism Minister Nandana Goonetilleke, as he was offended by the word “Small”. Undertaking a well-crafted publicity campaign can do wonders for the tourism industry of a country. 

The highly successful series of promotional programs carried out by Malaysia based on the theme – Malaysia truly Asia – brought immense rewards for its economy while leaving a lasting impression on the minds of global travellers.

Be it economic reforms or developing industries, the country has often failed to take the right step at the right time. It is time to change the familiar script by implementing a forward-thinking and bold strategic plan, aided by an effective branding strategy, to make Sri Lanka a prominent tourist destination.