Focus on revenue not arrivals– Six Senses founder
A sustainable tourism industry in Sri Lanka will only be possible if tourism officials shift their targets away from tourist arrivals to revenue generation, according to Sonu Shivdasani, founder of the world famous eco-friendly luxury hotel chain, Six Senses Resorts.
“I understand that there are plans for mass devel- opments in Sri Lanka, but that is not going to help Sri Lanka because such developments will detract from the country’s natural attractions and its wealth of culture. Income is more important than arrival figures if you’re looking at what is right for the population,” Shivdasani pointed out.
“Sri Lanka as a sustainable tourism destination has a unique window of opportunity as it is now at the start of its real tourism development phase. Tourism is important.
However, tourists use resources like fuel, food and energy as well. If the country aims to get increased amounts of tourists into the country, it will come to the point where tourism may be contributing to Gross Domestic Product but it will not be contributing to Gross National Happiness.”
“A city hotel is, to an extent, a kind of standard product, whereas a resort is a place where people are really looking for an experience. There are lessons to be learned from this. If Sri Lanka focuses on being just a product, people will get fed-up. So, it is very important to focus on experiences. The country’s natural beauty and culture must be preserved.” Shivdasani stressed.
Speaking further on the potential to cultivate a more culturally-integrated tourist experience, Shivdasani cited Galle as an example of a destination that is now fairly unique to Asia, in terms of being a well preserved seaside city.
Shivdasani made these observations during a lecture on the theme “Building Destination Sri Lanka: The Six Senses Story on Sustainable Tourism” organized by The Global Compact Network Ceylon.
He added that if tourism in the country is to be sustainable, then apart from regulating the numbers of visitors to the country, the government would also have to mandate stringent environmental standards in order to set Sri Lanka on a sustainable development path.
“If Sri Lanka isn’t going to market itself as an exclusive destination, then it becomes a joke to talk of it as a wildlife tourist destination for example, especially when compared with the kind of attractions available in Africa. When something becomes a rarity, it becomes more valuable. So, this could really be an opportunity for the country,” Shivdasani added.
In the panel discussion that followed his lecture, Shivdasani also made a comment about the processing system for tourists seeking a visa on arrival.
“Honestly it is quite inconvenient to go and buy a visa from a different place than where immigration is. It creates bottlenecks at the airport and becomes an inconvenience. A good way to earn that money would be to charge it onto the ticket itself, it makes life easier, and if tourism is to grow rapidly in this country, it will be important to work on processing tourists as easily as possible.”
Shivdasani’s organization is currently working with Aitken Spence Hotels in a 50-50 partnership, to develop two sites in Ahungalle, at an estimated total investment of US$ 50 million.
Responding to a question on whether more high-end tourism would be suitable for Sri Lanka, given the current world economic climate, Shivdasani said: “The recession in Europe affected the mass market; the blue collar and junior white collar workers. Currently, 33% of our revenue comes from our top 100 clients. People will see what we are going to do here and when they see how successful it is, they will want to do the same thing.”