Tourism promotion push ahead of cold winter

Sri Lanka’s key tourism promotion agency head believes that an increased public private partnership at the organisation needs to be promoted to ensure efficiency and faster delivery as required by the private sector.

Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau ( SLTPB) Chairman Kishu Gomes faced with a number of challenges in resurrecting an industry hit by recent Easter Sunday bombings is a keen promoter of the idea that the establishment needs to function under a public private partnership and noted that “if it is done then the industry will be able to achieve its objectives faster and more effectively”.

However, he pointed out that the private sector- led industry should not have high expectations of its public officials as they work within certain limitations and noted that they need to be more understanding.

Tourism promotion campaigns and programmes are carried out at the expense of the industry’s contributions to the cess fund.

“While there should be more capable people,” he noted that it is not possible to compare public and private sector staffs as the two operate on different bases.

Moreover, he related the events that occurred since the attacks and believed that the Attorney General’s ruling to carry out the PR campaign and tactical marketing campaign according to bureaucratic procedures caused the board decision to halt the campaign.

Sri Lanka Tourism is to commence its 12-market campaign from end November this year with about 10 activities to be implemented in eight markets.

He noted that following this they decided to conduct countrywide campaigns in 12 different markets like the UK, Germany, France, Italy, China, Japan, Russia, Australia, Benelux, Poland and Ukraine.

In 13 countries the bureau will appoint PR agencies that will assist with market intelligence, market analysis, key stakeholder contacts and exhibiting the marketing activities.

Also for the whole year there will be a consistently applied programme at a cost of Rs. 550 million for which cabinet approval is being sought, Mr. Gomes explained.

In addition there would be a joint tour operator promotion and for which they have received 83 proposals for Rs.425 million.

A Rs. 2 billion tender will be floated within the next two weeks to select a global advertising agency for the long term that had been on the cards prior to the attacks on Easter Sunday, he said.

Mr. Gomes also said that the bureau was working on a global tourism magazines and bloggers programmes with a reach of 138 million and a total engagement of 1.8 billion.

Commenting on the drop in standards as per the Sri Lankan dance act at the recent Paris travel mart he noted that it was a board decision to cut down on spending that led them to hire a troupe from Europe without employing one from Sri Lanka.

“If I could I would take dancers from Sri Lanka – in tourism we are selling the right feeling and so everything should be right so brand communication should be showcasing the right image,” he said.

It clearly compromised the quality of the performance at the travel mart, he noted.

Mr. Gomes observed that Sri Lanka has been improving on its numbers since the attacks happened and in this respect believe that the industry has had a “decent growth” over the past few months.

In light of these developments and the upcoming Presidential elections, he noted “winter can be slightly lower this year and based on what I hear from all stakeholders the elections can take a toll on the industry.”

He pointed out this could score some negative consequences but the industry should be able to achieve 1.9 million arrivals by the end of the year.