Educate public on importance of tourism for successful revival: Ex-tourism Chief
The successful revival of Sri Lanka’s hard-hit tourism sector in the ongoing global health crisis is highly dependent on bringing all stakeholders, including the public, on to one platform, former Sri Lanka Tourism chief said.
With the sentiments of the public in welcoming tourists into the country are grim at this point of time, former Chairperson Kishu Gomes asserted the need for the authorities to take proactive measures to convince the masses on the importance of the sector to the national economy.
“Educate the public on why tourism is important for the country’s economic recovery, so their attitude will be aligned for support. This is imperative to have a smooth sailing forward,” Gomes told Mirror Business while expressing his view on the current challenges and obstacles faced by the once high-earning industry.
Sri Lanka’s move to reopen its doors to tourists was met with resistance by the public, as the perception was that despite the industry functioning under the bio-bubble concept, the COVID-19 virus was brought into the country via foreign travellers, leading to an escalation in the number of infections.
The public was also angered by the fact that foreign nationals were welcome to explore the nation while the citizens overseas are struggling to return home, due to border closures, expensive airline fares and high charges for the mandatory 14-day quarantine.
Furthermore, in a bid to iron out the issues within the industry, the ex-tourism chief stressed the need to pave the
way for the SMES engaged in the industry to be better represented in the boards of Sri Lanka Tourism so their grievances can be better heard and addressed.
“We need to offer a place for SMES on the board so the industry will be well represented. They account for over 40 percent of the entire industry. During my time, I had so many discussions with the Tourism Ministry secretary but could not get it done. This change should be brought about in the new Tourism Act,” said Gomes.
He elaborated that a wellrepresented board should have the ultimate authority to make independent decisions without the need for the Treasury approval.
“Tourism is all about brand building and Treasury members have no knowledge about it. Their valuation is based on old theories and they do not know how to value perceptions,” noted Gomes. (SAA)