The Cabinet this week approved a 5-year tourism strategy, in the pipeline for a long time, which is designed to take Sri Lanka closer to the magical goal of reaching 2.5 million tourist arrivals by 2016 from 700,000 now.
The strategy promises many things including joint promotion campaigns with other agencies involved like SriLankan Airlines in promoting the country overseas, and so on.
Industry officials like Anura Lokuhetty, President of the Tourist Hotels Association (THASL) however have raised issues relating to land at an affordable price and also the need to launch an effective campaign to promote the country.
Tourism promotion has been put on hold for the past two years with the Government saying the focus should be on development of infrastructure. The industry on the other hand has been complaining about the lack of promotion at a time when Sri Lanka needs to tell the world that the country is open for business (like Treasury Secretary Dr. P.B. Jayasundera’s remark at a recent tourism event of Sri Lanka being the only ‘virgin girl on the beach’) in the post-war era.
Both arguments are valid as upgrading and development of infrastructure is also important to meet the challenges of the 2.5 million target and tourism sector budgets need to be balanced to meet both needs. THASL’s Lokuhetty concurs, saying ‘whilst agreeing that it (infrastructure development) is a good concept, we should start both these activities simultaneously or otherwise we will lose the window of opportunity we have got after 30 years’.
However as our story on July 24 noted, a new tourism promotion plan is under discussion with all stakeholders to project the country in the new era and to find ways of tackling competition from the region.
Tourism as the new strategy envisages is expected to raise the number employed (direct and indirect) to 500,000 from 150,000 and currently is the biggest growth sector in the country with new hotels planned and others springing up across the island.
The new plan also raises the bar for standards not only in star-class hotels but also small and medium units like rest houses and guest houses which also cater to tourists.
As the THASL chief has pointed out, land is a big issue and its affordability is in question. Proper guidelines are also important in land distribution for tourism and other sector developments.
In the past year, the Government has issued three cabinet papers relating to land for tourism purposes. The first was in August 2010 on the Kalpitiya development where state land was vested with the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority and given on lease.
That was followed by a cabinet paper earlier this year or late 2010 on Kuchchiveli (Trincomalee district) land where state land was valued by the chief valuer and offered to investors with upfront payment on a first-come, first-served basis – on leases of 33 years or 55 years. The last cabinet decision was about two months ago when it was decided that all land would be leased out for 99 years, again on an upfront (lease) payment, first-come, first-served basis.
However there are question marks over the transactions with Shangri-La and CATIC (the Chinese defence contractor that got land at the Galle Face) because both were based on an outright purchase basis, not lease. While no more land will be offered on an outright basis, unless there are exceptional reasons for doing so, the Government is to henceforth offer land only on lease terms.
Discussions are also currently underway, on ways of tackling the outright-purchase agreements with these two investors in the light of the new land-use policy for tourism, and given that some investors may protest over discrimination in the land-use policy.
Some industry veterans like Malin Hapugoda, Managing Director of Aitken Spence Hotels Group argue that big names like Shangri-La are good for business and special concessions are needed to entice such investors.
He has pointed out that hotels in Colombo like the Hilton, Galadari, Taj Samudra and the Oberoi were provided such (special) concessions many years back which is fair when trying to draw the ‘big boys’ in the business.
On the other hand, clarity is necessary on the land policy not only for tourism but other sectors too because, last month, the Business Times reported that legislation is being prepared by the Legal Draftsman on a new land policy which will include some provisions on outright purchase of state land.
Thus a statement, clearing any ambiquity in land acquisition or lease for development, would be welcome from the Government.
Finally while all sections of the tourism sector would most likely welcome the new tourism strategy which has been under discussion for a while, one hopes it would not suffer the same fate plus twists and turns of a new tourism law some years back which was blocked for political reasons. |
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