The exploration of other countries and places on the planet is called global tourism. But one need not even venture beyond one’s own shores – there are many places that we have not explored in our own country. This is called local or domestic tourism.
Combined, it is obviously a big business, worth around US$ 2 trillion yearly globally. Tourism is one of the world’s most important economic sectors. It employs one in every ten people on Earth and provides livelihoods to hundreds of millions more, though these numbers may have plunged during the pandemic, which virtually decimated global tourism. For some countries, tourism can represent over 20 percent of their GDP.
Sri Lanka is one of the world’s best-known tourism destinations and is again becoming a global hot spot for tourism with many publications declaring Sri Lanka as one of the world’s top post-pandemic destinations. Indeed, Sri Lanka earned around US$ 5 billion from tourism receipts in 2018, the last “normal” year for tourism in Sri Lanka.
This is because the Easter attacks in April 2019, drastically halted the flow of tourists to the country. However, the tourism industry was making a rapid recovery after the tragic events of Easter 2019. Then another crisis manifested itself in the form of the Coronavirus pandemic.
The only consolation is that this time, we were not alone. The entire world was affected by the contagion, with global tourism coming to a virtual standstill for close to two years. Sri Lanka too imposed a countrywide lockdown and closed its borders to international travellers. Then last year, the economic meltdown severely affected the tourism industry, with power cuts and fuel shortages adding further gloom. Worse, many countries issued travel advisories warning their citizens not to visit Sri Lanka due to these issues and street protests.
These issues have now been addressed to a great extent and tourists are coming despite all the challenges. In fact, according to the latest data issued by the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA), over 800,000 tourists have arrived in Sri Lanka so far this year. During the first 20 days of August alone, 98,831 tourists arrived in the island. The country earned over US$ 200 million from tourism in July and will be on track to earn over US$ 1 billion by the end of the year.
Globally, tourism and air travel have reached almost 90 percent of 2019 levels. In some regions, arrivals are already at, or even above, pre-pandemic levels. The lifting of the travel restrictions, alongside rising consumer confidence, will be important drivers for the sector’s recovery, bringing hope and opportunity to many millions of people around the world.
Climate Change
With the World Tourism Day (WTD) just one month away (September 27), the importance of travel and tourism is being seen in the context of Green Investments, this year’s WTD theme. Climate Change is already threatening the tourism industry, as seen by the recent incidents in Hawaii, Greece, Tenerife Islands and even here in Sri Lanka. Thus Sustainable and Climate-friendly tourism have become major catchphrases.
May 2022 marked the first time the United Nations General Assembly held a special debate on tourism, illustrating the historic relevance of the sector. Tourism is now on the agenda of Governments and of international organisations in every region.
Sri Lanka too has to take these factors into consideration as it maps out a strategy for attracting more tourists from around the world. All facilities should be provided to tourists who choose to come here.
Since tourist hotels earn foreign exchange for the country, it would be prudent to grant them (and also “special tours” bus operators) duty free permits to import electric cars and buses for the transport of tourists on the condition that they also import DC superchargers or solar chargers. A duty concession can be granted for this as well. This also tallies with the environmental goals envisaged for global tourism.
Since it is also important to ensure an adequate supply of food for the tourists in the face of an impending global food crisis, all hotels with arable land must be encouraged to grow crops that can sustain their kitchens. We can look at other countries which have introduced new concepts such as rooftop and vertical farming as well as hydroponics, the technique of growing crops without soil. Most hotels can easily embrace these concepts. Hotels should also have a more robust relationship with the local farmers and suppliers so that they nurture the local economy.
Airfares, still high
Moreover, air tickets to and from Sri Lanka have become very expensive in recent times, which may also deter tourists from coming here. This issue too has to be resolved to some extent, though there are other global factors too at play here. If these issues can be resolved, more airlines are waiting in the wings to begin services to Colombo and also to increase their frequencies.
The authorities should encourage more Indian airlines such as IndiGo and Spicejet to use the new Palaly International Airport in Jaffna, given that Indian tourists top tourist arrivals here. Sri Lanka could also join hands with the Maldives for joint promotional campaigns, an idea mooted some time back as well.
Sri Lankans are known the world over for their warmth, love and hospitality. Most tourists cite our friendly people as one of their main reasons for visiting Sri Lanka. But of late, there have been some incidents that may have harmed this reputation. Things have to start from the BIA itself, where touts often harass tourists for everything from taxi rides to hotel stays. In fact, touts, beggars, unlicensed tour guides and brokers harass tourists at all major tourist attractions, which could put off some of them from coming here again. After all, repeat tourists are a big market for Sri Lanka.
Sri Lankan tourism authorities also have to rethink the admissions pricing policy at key tourism attractions, where tourists sometimes have to pay as much as 10 times the rate paid by local tourists.
This may adversely affect budget tourists and in today’s context we need every Dollar. It is better to have one “middle of the road” pricing policy for both foreigners and locals. The Lotus Tower in Colombo should be properly marketed abroad to attract more tourists.
It is also vital to have more Tourist Police stations near key attractions and also in the major cities visited by tourists. This way, tourists can get help quickly if they are harassed, fleeced, intimidated or robbed. All the personnel of Tourist Police must be encouraged to learn at least one more language in addition to English, such as French, German, Spanish and Russian. This will help them to communicate more easily with the tourists, some of whom cannot speak English fluently.
All steps must be taken to avoid another pandemic wave and a lockdown in Sri Lanka, given that up to one million Sri Lankans are benefitting directly or indirectly from tourism related enterprises and activities, from waiters in hotels to souvenir sellers. Many of them lost their jobs due to the pandemic-related lockdowns but hotels have stepped up recruitment as things are looking good. For many of these individuals, tourism is their sole income avenue.
Promotional campaign needed
There is also an acute need for an international tourism promotional campaign through traditional and social media globally to highlight our multitude of religious, cultural and natural attractions that are perhaps not found anywhere else on the planet. Even many Sri Lankans do not know that the Kandy-Ella train service is often featured in the “top 10” lists of global train rides. There are many such tourism “gems” that we do not promote well. This campaign should also reassure any “on the fence” tourists that Sri Lanka is a safe destination to visit.
This should also highlight that most, if not all, difficulties faced by travellers in Sri Lanka have now been resolved, with a stable Government in place after the recent political transition. Journalists from leading travel publications in our source markets as well as from new markets should be given familiarisation tours here so that they will inform their readers and viewers on the array of attractions here.
This “reset” will also be a good opportunity for travel and tourism planners to analyse shortcomings in the inbound travel industry and take corrective steps. That will help the industry to realise the initial goal of 2.5 million tourists per year at least after 2024-25, giving a new sense of purpose and direction to the tourism industry, perhaps the most vital cog in the economic wheel in terms of attracting foreign exchange.
We must bear in mind that global travel is yet to recover to 2019 levels, so Sri Lanka should be in a position to do much better in terms of tourism in 2024-25, when global air travel is finally predicted to return to normal levels. Our tourism planners must get ready for this uptick in tourism from now onwards to reap the full benefits.