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Friday, 19 October 2018 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
By Charumini de Silva
Given tourism’s high growth potential the Government has decided to treat the industry as an export sector, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said this week while outlining key initiatives to help the industry to become more successful.
Addressing at the 53rd Annual General Meeting of the Hotels Association of Sri Lanka (THASL) on Wednesday, he highlighted the need to look at the industry in a fresh holistic light to uplift it and deliver unique experiences for travellers.
“We have great potential in the tourism industry so we will to treat you as an export sector. We have decided to take tourism as one of your priority sectors. However, we need to look at tourism afresh in terms of the approach, to attract more travellers, promotions and overcome barriers. Remember, it is no longer the era of selling rooms but selling experiences,” he said.
Pointing out that the industry had changed dramatically over the past few years with the arrival of major disruptive companies like Airbnb particularly in the accommodation sector, he called on the industry to understand the different market segments and cater to them with different approaches, adding that these market segments could not come together immediately.
“I am not looking at 20 million tourists in a country of 22 million people. But if we can attract five million people a year with a mix of three million high-spenders and two million backpackers we can still make it lucrative and make the industry a good foreign exchange earner for the economy,” he added.
Wickremesinghe also said that to raise the tourism industry to its next heights, it was crucial to set up more hotel schools to develop the services industry’s offerings.
“What we are lacking today are not hotels, but hotel schools. The cuisine and services have not been developed as much as they should have been. I will give you the same incentives that I’m giving to the hotel industry if you start to build hotel schools because it all boils down to services at the end of the day,” he emphasised.
In terms of selling new experiences, the Prime Minister insisted on a different approach in areas such as cuisine, restaurants, street food, entertainment and culture.
“We (industry stakeholders) should all sit down and work it out together to develop a new tourism industry to reach its true potential,” he added.
Acknowledging that Cabinet this week approved the digital promotional campaign, he said the industry should market Sri Lanka more in India, while also in other potential countries like China, South East Asia and the Middle East.
“I think you should promote Sri Lanka more in India, which was also acknowledged by Indian Prime Minister Modi as well to me. The bulk of the travellers are coming from India, China, ASEAN and the Middle East,” he pointed out.
Outlining some of the key initiatives that were being rolled out by the Government to help the tourism industry, Wickremesinghe said they would develop Mattala Airport as a public-private partnership (PPP) with the Indian Airport Authority to make it an international airport, while also noting that domestic airfields including Batticaloa and Palaly are also being developed simultaneously to facilitate easy access.
In addition, the Premier said they were taking a serious look at restructuring national carrier SriLankan Airlines to support the growing tourism industry.
“The Tourism Development Minister asked me if it’s Sri Lanka first or SriLankan Airlines first? So we decided Sri Lanka first. We will look at a PPP model for SriLankan Airlines. The country cannot pay $ 100-$ 200 million every year subsidising this airline. We need to ensure it is profitable. If this money was given to you all, I’m sure you all would have done far better. But that’s the reality of our national airline.”
