Chandana Ameredasa, Managing Director of Island Leisure Pvt. Ltd. is the present Vice President, Sri Lanka Australia and New Zealand Business Council of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce and is an Executive member of the PATA Sri Lanka Chapter.
He is a former Vice President of the Sri Lanka Hotel Graduates Association and has held many senior managerial positions in the hospitality trade in Sri Lanka.
Ameredasa dives straight into a reality check when questioned by Sunday Observer Explorer on his views of the current tourism sector and what needs to be done immediately and what plans should be put in place for the way forward.
Ameredasa emphasizes, “For tourism to sustain there are two important factors that have to be taken into consideration which are paramount-; peace and political stability. All contingency measures must be taken at all times to maintain this status quo before anything else. The security of the country is essential for long lasting sustainable Tourism in our country.”
“Maximum precautionary measure must be taken to prevent terrorist attacks, all prevention measure must be taken for potential pandemics, it must be ensured there is no gang culture, political unrest, uprisings and strikes”,he said. If these are not under control then there can’t be Tourism”, he emphasized.
There is an ambitious plan of enticing three million visitors this year. What is required to prepare for an influx of tourists?
“We have 50.000 rooms in the country, we need to increase capacity – and have a comprehensive plan. We have only 9000 odd rooms with the 5 and 4 star categories put together. It’s a very small number. To cater to increasing number of visitors, we need to have the product available. We need to have more rooms”.
“We don’t have the product to cater to an inflow of a larger magnitude. When you target the high-end tourist, how do you sustain tourism when you do not have sufficient number of products. It is like having a beautiful shop and not having the products to sell!” he said.
“Eighty five percent of the investors in the hospitality Industry in the country are Sri Lankans. However, there are many more wanting to invest to improve the sector, but there is a lot of red tape that one is confronted with when one goes to invest, particularly with land availability and process of approvals.” he said.
“We need more investors and investments to develop. To add more rooms to cater to the demand, we may get it, if a global branding and promotion is done. The Government has to ensure that there is suitable land. Even when the land is found, Sri Lankan entrepreneurs find it difficult in obtaining the approvals. The approval processes takes about six to twelve months”, he lamented.
“We need to aim at 2.5 million visitors, which is a more realistic figure. This too can happen if we can sustain the flow in both the peak and off peak seasons and have continuous flow of arrivals”.
What are your views on the marketing aspects of our tourism drive?
“We should have done a unified global marketing campaign. It’s long overdue.
No high quality campaign has been done since 2009. A very high quality global campaign is needed to aim at traditional and non-traditional markets. It will have to be done fast and effectively. To target Sri Lanka as an all seasons destination will be a good campaign as we must not be summer, winter oriented but the results will not be seen overnight. It’s a long process”.
“Tourism is a sensitive industry. Eighty percent of our tourism industry consists of small and medium sectors. They need to be looked after. The Government must have contingency plans to ensure that they are financially sustainable. A fund has to be created to ensure this”.
“One of the biggest assets we have are human resources, they must be well looked after”, he added. We have skilled, trained people. We must ensure they don’t leave our shores and are retained, trained and sustained” he said. Our hospitality service is up to international standards. Leading publications of the world have rated us in the top 10 on many occasions. Those standards have to be well-maintained”.
“We need to give more training and develop the professional curriculum. Understandably, we lost quality trained people to the Middle- East post-Covid. We have to ensure that those who have remained do not leave the country.”
What needs to be done by the Government to support the local Industry stakeholders?
In the current context, investors need to be given incentives. Trade standards must be maintained to maintain the country’s image.
Inbound tour operators should be given concessionary terms on vehicle imports once in minimum of every years. The vehicles have to be upgraded. What is the point of having good rooms, if the vehicles are not of a good standard? The tour operators are promoting with their own resources to bring tourists down, to bring in the dollars, the incentives must be considered for them.”
“Under the Ranil Wickremesighe presidency, the inbound tour operators who bring in 70% of the revenue to the country became VAT liable. In the long run they will find it difficult to promote the destination due to lack of funds.
“It is the inbound tour operators who bring in direct foreign exchange and they got slapped with this tax. They in fact should be encouraged, supported in promoting the country. Other sectors don’t face this, why has only the tourism sector been targeted? What is the rationale behind it?” he queries.
“We spend our own money to promote the country and then have to pay VAT. We have been paying this levy for the last two years”.
Were these grievances made known to the present Government?
“Yes, representations have been made and appeals have been made in this regard and we are hopeful the present government will consider those requests to ensure the future growth of the industry.”
