Sri Lanka will probably get 500-600,000 tourists in the whole of 2010. Compare that with Singapore which got 950,000 in the month of January 2010, and you see the potential that we have lost due to the 30-year war. Bali, the Maldives, Malaysia and Thailand all provide equally splendid service and hospitality and this is our competition.
Our weaknesses are well-known, viz. poor inland transport networks, no highways etc. As far as I am aware all tourism ministers from the ‘70s onward haven't had the clout to force the cabinet of ministers to focus on the potential of tourism. The whole initiative to set up a private sector-led tourism authority was misguided as the private sector is always split between competing vested interest groups. Tourism is important enough to warrant a cabinet sub-committee, headed by the President's secretary or someone equally powerful, to continually review the implementation of the tourism master-plan. Otherwise we will never achieve the focus needed.
The positive aspect is that the master-plan is already there; what is lacking is the implementation capability. India has been consistently beaming her 'Incredible India' publicity campaign since 2000; so has Malaysia (Truly Asia). In Sri Lanka each new tourism minister who comes along decides to implement a new publicity campaign (Ex. the disastrous 'small miracle') and therefore foreign audiences get a distorted and piecemeal picture of our country. This is another reason the President has to get involved to ensure continuity.
If we get these elements in place, the industry will soar in my opinion.
Sri Lankan professional banker/
economist
(working abroad) |
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