Negative perceptions, travel advisories dog Sri Lanka’s tourism
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The biggest challenge for Sri Lanka’s tourism industry these days is the negative perception of the country’s economic issues with global media only portraying the ‘bad side’ of the country while foreign travel advisories declaring ‘only essential travel’ were another drawback.
“We need a platform to take the ‘black mark’ out of Sri Lanka and portray a more positive message,” said Chalaka Gajabahu, Chairman Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau, speaking at a discussion on “Reviving Tourism’ on Tuesday at the Movenpick Hotel organised by the Sunday Times Business Club (STBC). Movenpick is the club’s host hotel.
He said Sri Lanka Tourism is preparing a short, medium and long-term strategy to revive tourism and the blue print would be presented to the Cabinet shortly. “Since it’s with private sector support and input, I hope this would continue in the years to follow,” he said, adding that the news in the global space is that Sri Lanka is still having problems when there are no queues or other issues.
“Negative and sensational media is easy to market but positive media is difficult to market,” he said noting that about five months ago when a new team at Sri Lanka Tourism took over it was like a ‘war zone’ (a period of queues and other shortages).
“Injury (crises) can happen overnight but the healing takes time,” he said.
Nishad Wijetunga, President – Sri Lanka Association of Inbound Travel Operators (SLAITO), said 2018 was their best year with 2.3 million tourists and $4.5 billion income. “We need to revive the industry as some three million people rely on this industry,” he said adding that a SLAITO-commissioned study by Ernest and Young found that out of 2.3 million visitors, 1.7-1.8 million came from SLAITO members and Destination Management Companies while the balance were Visiting Friends and Relatives (VFR) and the Sri Lankan diaspora.
“Travel advisories have badly affected Sri Lanka. This is our biggest constraint. The travel advisory from Germany is still in place,” he said noting that there is still a negative perception abroad though the country has settled down after the crisis of queues etc. Some organisations are portraying kids from Africa as those suffering from malnutrition in Sri Lanka. It’s always bad news about the destination, he added.
Roshan R. Perera, General Manager, Movenpick Colombo, said they were experiencing a shortage of staff while many Sri Lankans going abroad in search of jobs.
“This period is the worst we have faced as a country and an industry. The bigger issue is retaining talent as many people leaving the country. 30-40 per cent of staff in hotels has gone abroad,” he said while observing that hotels may be forced to import labour.
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