March worker struggle to hit tourism
The tourism industry will be participating at the ITB travel fair in Germany next week after a lapse of two years but remain concerned about the demonstrations in Sri Lanka and the call for complete work stoppage that could turn ugly.
The Sri Lankan tourism industry is currently trying to bring about a renewed call for tourists to come back to the island as they attempt to bring back travellers.
“The locals should also understand that irrespective of the political parties they support we need the economy back on track and tourism is the best and quickest way to do so,” former Sri Lanka Association of Inbound Tour Operators (SLAITO) President Mahen Kariyawasam told the Business Times.
He noted that the ITB fair on March 7-9 is crucial to the industry as this will be the first time they participate in two years.
While demonstrations and protests in most other countries are peaceful, in Sri Lanka they turn ugly ending with tear gas and clashes. “It will become sensational and will have a bad impression just as bookings are picking up,” he noted.
He pointed out that this year summer bookings are looking good mainly from Europe, Japan and Korea.
Meanwhile, President Ranil Wickremesinghe has expressed confidence in the industry booming and in this respect has called for the establishment of a committee on tourism to attract upmarket travellers to the destination.
The committee comprising about eight persons from the tourism industry has been called on to submit their plan or proposal within three months on how to attract upmarket tourists to the country and through this aim at increasing traffic to the destination. The first meeting in this regard was held at the Presidential Secretariat presided by the President.
With the aim of generating 5 million travellers by 2025, the country has to focus on attracting higher end travellers that will get people talking about Sri Lanka.
The industry has up to now been individually engaged in generating upmarket travellers to the destination but this has not been part of a focused plan on positioning the country in this sense.
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