Unregulated hotels a menace
Sri Lanka is faced with the dangers of mushrooming unregulated hotels. There is an urgent need for the stakeholders and government to join hands in tackling it, claims Hiran Cooray, President of Tourist Hotels Association of Sri Lanka and Director of Sri
Q What are the issues faced by hotels in Sri Lanka, and how does the association try to address them?
I believe our biggest problem right now is that Sri Lanka, despite enjoying high arrival numbers, is still not positioned as strongly as we would like. We have been on a level playing field with countries such as Malaysia, Maldives, Thailand etc., for some time now in terms of products and services. However, we have struggled to capture the attention of the world adequately.
On the home front, there are issues of accommodation explosion—with the sudden growth of tourist arrivals, the number of unregulated informal businesses has escalated. Whilst we encourage investment in the hospitality sector, there must be certain standards and checks in place to ensure safety, quality, and promotion of Sri Lanka as a valuable destination. THASL seeks to address these issues by coordinating very closely with stakeholders and government authorities, and lending aid in the form of education and advice wherever possible. Q What are your plans for the association in future?
We would like to see more of small and medium hoteliers joining the association. We are specifically targeting to serve their needs. We have strengthened our secretariat with a full time Chief Executive Officer who will assist these members with legal, operational, training and marketing advice. We would also like to encourage international brands to join our membership as well, so that they too can seek our assistance. Q What are your views on the minimum room rate policy in Sri Lanka? Why is there a debate on the same?
Minimum rate in Colombo was 'god sent'. Finally hoteliers started to make money as there was little space for undercutting. Naturally this move by the Government, which was welcomed by hoteliers in Colombo didn’t go down well with the travel agents. Thus, the debate continues and I know eventually market forces will prevail and there will be a free flow within the next 2436 months. Q How has inbound tourism changed in Sri Lanka after the war ended?
End of the war opened the whole world to us. During the war, we survived due to the efforts from tour operators in Europe and India. They continued to support us despite travel adversities and warnings. We will always remain grateful to that. Now we see independent travellers roaming all over the country. We believe 30-40 per cent of them stay in accommodation provided by the informal sector. Naturally online agencies play a leading role in connecting these service providers with the consumers. Q Which has been the biggest inbound market for Sri Lanka?
Traditionally, it has always been the European market – it still is. However, countries such as China and India are very close behind.