Jaffna City’s response to demand for tourist accommodation
With so much focus on the tourism sector’s potential to support the Sri Lankan economy, the recent spate of reports of harassment of foreign visitors from the southern coastal belt has understandably raised questions regarding safety. The clearing of certain informal tourist related structures as a result has also raised questions of the effectiveness of the regulatory framework with regards to the informal sector within tourism. While these concerns will continue to persist, the informal sector in tourism appears to have played a pivotal role in responding to the sudden popularity of Sri Lanka as a destination country since the end of the war in 2009, with unofficial accounts stating the informal sector has quadrupled during the same period. A study conducted by CEPA in the city of Jaffna throws light on how the city responded to this sudden wave of tourists that descended upon the city. 
Since May 2009, Jaffna appeared to be one of the most popular destinations for local visitors and those returning “home” after long stays overseas. The ensuing debate around the ethics of visiting war affected regions – branded as “war tourism” – took away attention from another key activity taking place on the ground. How did Jaffna in particular “cope” with the sudden influx of local and foreign visitors flooding the city, in the absence of pre-established infrastructure and facilities? A cursory review of online reservation platforms indicates that Jaffna adapted quickly, by offering a variety of accommodation facilities, ranging from the well-known star-class formal establishments to private rooms in residential houses for rent.
As part of a study exploring investor motivations, CEPA conducted a survey in early 2017 among those establishments offering accommodation for tourists in the Jaffna and Nallur Divisional Secretariat Divisions. The study helps provide some insight into how the city’s residents and at times, non-permanent residents responded to this sudden spike in demand for accommodation facilities. In terms of numbers, by early 2017, over 75 accommodation units were operational in the city alone. These represented a wide spectrum of facilities on offer, ranging from self-defined five-star facilities to basic rooms for rent.
The establishments are generally owned by a single individual or happen to be partnerships between Jaffna residents and Sri Lankans living overseas. In some cases, Sri Lankans living overseas have “transformed” their ancestral homes to guest houses, relying on their relatives to manage the establishment and overseeing the business operations remotely. Tapping into this demand for accommodation then, also helps these owners to keep things local by sourcing both personnel and material resources from the district itself.
Interestingly, the establishments are quite aware of the range of clients they receive and cater to their specific needs, ranging from sales representatives and local Sri Lankan visitors to returning members of the diaspora. Therefore, the main clientele is not necessarily “foreign” tourists, but includes a range of Sri Lankans with varying degrees of relationship to Jaffna and Sri Lanka.
This degree of response shown by the local community, or the informal sector should not be surprising. Literature indicates that the informal sector is resilient to sudden shocks, be it natural disasters or man-made. The argument being that unlike the large-scale formal sector, the investments tend to be relatively smaller and therefore, can “bounce back” faster. As a city emerging into a post-war period, Jaffna’s response to the demand for accommodation reflects a similar pattern. While some of the establishments were of a relatively large scale, a majority fell within the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority’s (SLTDA) classification of guest houses – manageable with a minimum staff and requiring only a few modifications to existing ancestral homes and/or new buildings.
Also of interest in such unique cases such as Jaffna, is that the opening up of the city for tourism both local and foreign also appears to have coincided with the popularity of online platforms. The popularity of the idea of home stays, also promoted heavily by the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority at one point, has taken a new meaning in the era of young travellers seeking a more “lived” experience and cultural immersion in the cities they wish to visit. Whether such accommodation units will continue to thrive or fall off the radar as the sector itself evolves however, is not as clear. As more establishments are opened and reviews and rates are used widely as the yardsticks in decision-making, some of these establishments may find it difficult to operate. At the time of the study, the establishments were operating in a large vacuum independent of government support and therefore, questions of sustainability in a changing business environment remains unclear. In the current context, where the importance of maintaining common standards across the spectrum of facilities on offer is being discussed, it would be interesting to watch how these establishments in Jaffna respond and adapt.
(The writer is a Senior Research Professional at CEPA-Centre for Poverty Analysis. WALK the LINE is a monthly column for the Development Page of the Business Times contributed by CEPA, an independent, Sri Lankan think-tank promoting a better understanding of poverty related development issues. CEPA can be contacted by visiting the website www.cepa.lk or via info@cepa.lk) )