Attracting global travellers

Tourism: One of Sri Lanka’s crucial foreign exchange earning sectors which has seen wild swings in recent years after the Easter Sunday terror attacks in 2019, followed by the closure of the airport during the COVID-19 pandemic and then the economic crisis in 2022.

As a sector, tourism is also the first to recover after a crisis and that resurgence is currently seen with a sharp increase in tourist arrivals this year compared to 2022 which mid-year saw massive queues at fuel stations, queues for cooking gas plus a shortage of medicines as the country battled scarce foreign exchange resources.

Of course, there are internal issues to sort out like the implementation of the long-delayed global marketing campaign and the enforcement of minimum room rates (MRR) since October 2023 which has seen one section of the trade (travel agents) opposing the MRR with a fundamental rights case filed in the Supreme Court.

On the positive side, the authorities launched the country tagline for tourism ‘You will come back for more’ on Monday at an event in Colombo, drawing both bouquets and brickbats. An industry veteran said it was a useful tagline and serves its purpose since there are many repeat travellers to Sri Lanka.

On the flipside, a brand strategist said the tagline was nothing distinctive about Sri Lanka and can serve any vendor, not making it exceptional. Another commentator on social media said the brand custodian should define the positioning it desires. If backed by testing, the better. “We have changed taglines like pillows! Only causes a headache,” he said, adding, “an agency can help but the brand owner should know where he wants to go.”

However, despite the uncertainty in policy and marketing, the country continues to draw accolades from global media and other institutions as a must-visit destination, the latest from a US-based travel guide, ‘Travel Off Path’ which has positioned Sri Lanka as one of the top five fastest-growing tourism destinations for the year 2024. It said Sri Lanka has consistently drawn visitors throughout 2023, with a notable surge in tourists from the US, constituting one of the largest visitor groups.

As I reflected on these issues, the home phone rang. It was Kalabala Silva, the often agitated academic, whom I hadn’t spoken with for a while now.

“Hi…..hi,” I said warmly, greeting Kalabala. “Hi…..I was recently following developments in the tourism sector and it seems we would be having a good year of arrivals in 2023,” he said.

“Yes, it’s a good year compared to 2018 which saw a record 2.3 million arrivals but there is a lot more work to be done to touch 2 million arrivals again,” I said.

“What is happening on the country branding campaign?” he asked. I then explained a process that was supposed to kickstart in July this year (more on that later).

As far as tourist arrivals are concerned, November 2023 recorded the highest arrivals for the year at 151,496, a 153.5 per cent increase from 59,759 in the same 2022 month.

December 2023 is also expected to see a surge in arrivals, much higher than 91,961 in December 2022. Arrivals for the period January to November 2023 rose to 1,276,951, a sharp increase from 628,017 arrivals in the same 2022 period.

Back to the need for a global marketing campaign. Tourism industry participants including John Keells Holdings (JKH) among the country’s biggest operators of hotels – are urging the government to fast-track the long-delayed global marketing campaign and equip Sri Lanka to adequately compete with rival destinations in attracting travellers.

There is a need for a well-executed global marketing campaign to attract visitors and enhance Sri Lanka’s position in the global tourism market, said Krishan Balendra, Chairman of JKH which has a string of hotels also in the Maldives.

Speaking last week at the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce ‘Sri Lanka Economic Summit 2023’, he expressed regret over delays in Sri Lanka launching a comprehensive global tourism campaign in the aftermath of the war. He said there was a lack of visibility for Sri Lanka in the global tourism stage compared to other competing destinations.

Since July this year, local authorities have been painfully trying to launch the 1.45 billion rupee-worth (nearly $5 million) global marketing campaign over a period of 12 months targeting markets – the UK, Germany, France, Italy, India, Ukraine, Russia, West Asia, Scandinavia, South Korea, Japan and Australia. The delay has been due to procurement procedures, call for tenders and other issues.

At the same chamber event last week, President Ranil Wickremesinghe stressed the need to attract high-spending tourists who would spend a minimum of US$500 per day (compared to around $190 per day now), adding that the target for arrivals should reach 5 million in the next few years. He said that Sri Lanka should target for far more room revenue than minimum rates.

Sometime back, Chalaka Gajabahu, Chairman of the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau, referring to the global marketing campaign, said they were working on a model where the country could attract travellers across the year instead of seasonal traffic like during the winter season. “We want to promote our DNA of adventure, wellness, culture, wildlife and nature, sun and sand, all capsuled in one island,” he had said.

As I walked to the kitchen, my attention was drawn to the conversation by the trio under the margosa tree. They were engrossed in discussing the future in 2024, an ideal topic.

“Ena avurudde monawada wenna yanney (What is going to happen next year),” asked Kussi Amma Sera.

“Janadipathi kiyala thiyanawa nae 2024, janadipathi mathiwaranaya saha parlimenthu mathiwaranaya thiyanawa kiyala (Well the President has said presidential and parliamentary elections will be held in 2024),” noted Serapina.

“Aie mang danney nae, parlimenthu mathiwaranaya ena avurudde thiyanne, eka thiyanna oney 2025 nisa (I wonder why he is hoping to hold parliamentary elections when it is due only in 2025,” said Mabel Rasthiyadu.

“Eya hadanney eyage janapriyathwaya balaganna-nae

(To test his popularity),” opined Serapina.

As I wound up today’s column, my thoughts were also on what the trio was discussing; the future in 2024. One cannot rule out disruptions in normal life as battle lines are drawn during a testy election period in 2024.