Opinion leans on the Nuwara Eliya monument being left to function as a post office
Nuwara Eliya Post Office should be allowed to function in its iconic old colonial building, a popular tourist attraction among both foreign and domestic visitors, to the benefit of the industry, say academics and people in the industry.
The availability of sufficient accommodation to meet the high season demand in Nuwara Eliya and the popularity of the post office as a tourist attraction are the reasons behind their claim.
“The decision to alienate the building to be developed as a hotel needed to be made after consultation with relevant parties, especially foreign tourists who visit this place. There is clear support among the tourists visiting the place to show that they want to see a functioning post office retaining its original character,’’ Colombo University Sustainable Tourism Unit Coordinator Professor Suranga Silva explained.
The rationale behind the alienation of the building to have more hotel rooms was not valid since there is an excess of rooms—greater than the demand—and a large part of them would not be sold during the off-season. The decisions, which are not based on consultations and research, could be detrimental to the tourism industry in Nuwara Eliya as a popular destination and the country as a whole, warned Prof. Silva.
“What the government could do is introduce innovative programmes to increase income generation activities for tourists, such as improving the existing postal museum and setting up a souvenir shop,” he said.
The government could get assistance from Uva and Sabaragamuwa universities to develop a research-based plan to develop Nuwara Eliya as a fully-fledged destination, including key infrastructure, he said.
The characteristics of a functioning post office and a heritage hotel are two distinct experiences, and tourists who have visited there during the last few days have clearly indicated their choice, said Professor Silva, adding that almost all the tourists who visit the city visit the post office.
It’s a highlight, a living monument for tourists, not only for UK tourists but also others as well, said National Tourist Guide Lecturers Association president Manoj Maddage. Tourists usually go to the fruit market and then walk to the post office. He explained and said the post office is a "must-visit place”.
"Nearly half the number of tourists visiting the country go to Nuwara Eliya because of the tea plantations and its temperate climate,” he noted.
“We tell tourists that Nuwara Eliya is the ‘Little England’ and there are very few buildings to show them, like the post office in the city,” he said, adding that two other colonial heritage buildings used as hotels are out of bounds for tourists and local visitors who are not going to stay in those hotels. Tourists and domestic visitors would lose this unique experience if the building was given to the private sector to be developed as a hotel.
Besides, the tourists love the local experience of buying stamps and picture postcards, posting them to families and friends, and admiring the historical artefacts related to the postal service of the country, which has a history spanning over 200 years, he added.
Former Sri Lanka Tourism Chairperson Kimarly Fernando stressed the need to keep the post office functioning to preserve its authenticity. Pointing out its importance as one of the very few public heritage buildings of the colonial past, she said this is one of the most visited attractions in Nuwara Eliya. “Just disposing of vital heritage buildings without any innovative attempts to resuscitate them should not be a comfortable choice and would be a bad example.”
Neither is there a scarcity of tourist accommodation in Nuwara Eliya, nor would the conversion of the postal building into a hotel attract more tourists to Nuwara Eliya, she said.
“Certainly, tourists would prefer an authentic, functioning heritage post office to another heritage hotel in Nuwara Eliya, where there is already one such hotel with staff attired in some colonial-era uniforms,” she said.
A plan should be implemented to develop the city as a sustainable tourist destination. She rejected any political affiliations or conflicts of interest in the matter and stressed that her views were purely to develop the industry as a citizen.
As a first step, if the city could be made plastic-free, then it could be promoted to attract more tourists, the exchairperson said.
There are many ways for the department to increase revenue, she pointed out, such as a fee-levying postal museum or a small restaurant to serve tea to visitors, and postal departments should be able to do it.
The old post office is among the few living monuments, the umbilical cord connecting the present with the colonial past of the country’s tea capital, which is also referred to as "Little England” in many travel guides, said a senior national guide lecturer who wished to remain anonymous.
Among a few other buildings in the town, two hotels of typical Scottish and English architecture do not allow visitors to see their properties, he said.
With the portrait of the late Queen Elizabeth of England, which is said to be the only portrait still to survive in any public office in the country, he said, and that the red post office box made in Derby, England, still stands.