Tourism by the numbers
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The trio – Kussi Amma Sera, Mabel Rasthiyadu and Serapina – had purchased their share of loaves of bread and ‘maalu paan’ from the ‘choon paan’ karaya, and was seated under the margosa tree, chatting.
“Ada paththare kiyanawa jeevana viyadama balanna kamituvak path kara kiyala (Today’s papers are saying they have appointed a cost of living committee),” said Kussi Amma Sera, munching a ‘maalu paan’.
“Mata me kamitu gena visvasayak naha. Egollo badu-mila pahalata genne naha (I don’t have faith in these committees. They won’t bring down prices),” asserted Mabel Rasthiyadu, the more vocal of the trio when discussing politics.
“Mama ekangai (I agree),” added Serapina, her mouth partly full with a ‘maalu paan’. They then engaged in a long conversation on the cost of living and how the previous government had failed to bring down prices.
As I watched them conversing under the margosa tree my mind wandered elsewhere..…..and I began reflecting on the subject of tourism, as I had read some interesting thoughts by two leaders in the industry. For the record tourism is in the doldrums at the moment after a sharp fall in arrivals following the tragic Easter Sunday bombings last April of three churches and three luxury hotels.
At this point, the phone rang. It was my jolly-mood economist friend Sammiya (short for Samson), on the line. I relished a conversation with him as he always made a discussion, cheerful and happy.
“I say, my friend, how are you,” he said, in a jolly tone. “Fine, fine,” I replied, laughing, in an equally-jolly response.
“I am wondering whether tourism has recovered. December is the month when we have a large number of tourist arrivals and also a large number of Sri Lankan expatriates arriving to visit their families,” he said. “As far as Sri Lankans returning to visit their families…..that is happening. However, the foreign tourist arrivals are still very slow,” I said, adding that hotels were compelled to give good discounts to attract locals and keep the rooms occupied.
As we continued our conversation, discussing also about our families, my mind went back to the thoughts of the two leaders in the tourism industry….both reflecting on the need for a blueprint for tourism.
They were consistent on one point – there is a need for ‘quality’ tourism rather than ‘quantity’ tourism. That means rather than focusing on large numbers, attention should be on raising the bar to get high-spending tourists.
Sri Lanka Hotels’ Association President Sanath Ukwatte emphasised the need for focus on ‘quality’ rather than ‘quantity’ and measuring success based on revenue and earnings and not on the number of visitors.
He said there should be a new master plan which should also tackle over-visitation of cultural sites and wildlife parks where the increasing footfall is worrying the authorities. “We need to market Sri Lanka just like the Maldives as a luxury destination with segments attracting 3-star, budget travellers and guest house clients. We need to aim for revenue of US$10 billion and decide how we can reach that point,” he added.
Veteran industry leader Hiran Cooray, who is also chairman of Jetwing Symphony hotels, said there is haphazard development of hotels without a clue about the ensuing market size.
In recent times, several international brands have entered or are entering the Sri Lanka leisure market with the likes of InterContinental Hotels. Sheraton, Shangri-La, Marriott, ITC India, Grand Hyatt, RIU, Anantara, Hyatt, Westin, Ritz Carlton and Radisson, while the Hilton is expanding its properties to seven including its DoubleTree brand from just two a year ago.
“We need a proper development plan in place. Hotels are coming up in Colombo like nobody’s business. Very soon we’ll have an over-supply. We should be building according to a plan, according to targeted arrivals. We need to know how many 3-star, 4-star and 5-star hotels we need and that these are based on targeted arrivals,” Cooray said, adding: “We shouldn’t focus on numbers but revenue earned per arrival.”
Both emphasised the need for a blueprint in tourism rather that unorganised growth.
Sri Lanka is likely to end 2019 with 2 million or a little less, compared to a target of 2.5 million arrivals this year, with the drop largely due to the Easter Sunday terrorist attacks. Officials have said in the past that the country is targeting 5 million arrivals in the next five years. Tourism earnings in 2018 were $4.4 billion, while arrivals were 2.3 million.
Arrivals have grown from just 500,000 in 2008, a year before the war ended, to over two million now but as the industry leaders suggest, Sri Lanka is hell-bent on numbers rather than attracting high-spenders. The country’s creaking infrastructure with traffic jams in the city of Colombo causing long lines of vehicles during morning and evening rush hours due to the lack of proper public transport, adds to the discomfort in the tourism sector. Colombo, on the other hand, also lacks entertainment, leisure and shopping though a few new upmarket malls like One Galle Face and Colombo City Centre have opened with luxury international brands having stores.
Sri Lanka was scheduled to commence its 12-market campaign from end November this year, in India, UK, Germany, France, Italy, China, Japan, Russia, Australia, Benelux, Poland and Ukraine. The authorities were also planning to appoint PR agencies in 13 markets to assist with market intelligence, market analysis and key stakeholder contacts. Both these campaigns have been delayed due to complex bureaucratic processes.
Sri Lanka hasn’t had a proper global marketing campaign since the end of the war. However, it would be ideal if a proper blueprint for tourism that would address all these issues and focus on making Sri Lanka a high-end destination with segments catering to 4-stars, 3-stars, boutique hotels, guest houses and homestays is included in the long-term plan.
It should also deal with spreading out the arrivals to visit newer attractions rather than focusing only on Sigiriya, the Dalada Maligawa in Kandy or the Yala and Minneriya National Parks, to reduce the footfall at these popular sites and preserve them for the future. A blueprint should also deal with food production and food security since 2 million tourists going onto 5 million arrivals in the next few years (as targeted) would mean eating into the local production base that caters only to the country’s 21 million population. Would the food shortage increase prices? These are questions that should be tackled in the master plan as ideally an increase in local food production is desperately needed.
Yes, a blueprint for tourism is solely needed instead of the haphazard rush for numbers. “Machan….are you there?” asked Sammiya. Only then did I realise that my thoughts had wandered, forgetting that we were in a conversation. “Yes, yes,” I said quickly and after a few minutes ended the conversation.
Kussi Amma Sera then walked in bringing my second cup of tea with a plate of ‘maalu paan’, saying: “Mahattaya, kanda maalu paan thiyanawa (Sir, there is maalu paan for you to eat).” Thanking her, I munched on a ‘maalu paan’ while reflecting on the need for a tourism master plan and hoping it would draw the attention of the new administration.