Unregulated tourism industry could cost country in long term

The Fort Magistrate’s Court this week ordered the closure of a Colombo City Hostel in Colombo 3 after two foreign tourists staying there died due to suspected food/drink poisoning or exposure to a toxic gas.

The dead are two young women from the United Kingdom and Germany. The victims had shown symptoms of food poisoning and were admitted to the Colombo National Hospital where they died. Several other guests who fell ill were treated and are out of danger.

Sri Lankans for years have been going gung-ho over foreign tourists and since the downturn in the tourist industry due to the economic crisis and the COVID pandemic, there is even greater enthusiasm to welcome them. Tourism contributes heavily to State revenue and thousands are dependent on tourism for their livelihood. But in all this craze to attract foreign visitors to the country, we have long given in to quantity over quality and what we have is an emerging crisis of overtourism.

It’s a problem that’s affecting many countries popular with tourists. In Japan’s ancient capital of Kyoto, long a popular destination for tourists, villagers recently closed off some private-property alleys in its famous geisha district because of complaints about misbehaving visitors and overcrowding. The city of Barcelona in Spain is another place that has had enough of too many tourists and recently took matters into their own hands to keep the numbers down. Sri Lanka, where tourism is a lifeline to many, the country is in no situation to impose such restrictions on tourists, but the authorities need to step in to regulate the sector so that tourists can have a safe and enjoyable experience while tourism can be a sustainable industry in the long run.

In Sri Lanka we can see the plight of places such as Ella, tourist hot spots along the southern coasts, etc. are being overrun by both local and foreign tourists with little or no regulations to adhere to safe and sustainable practices. There are also the threats to wildlife that are emerging. Recently the villagers in the Buttala area staged a protest alleging that wild elephants are being lured onto the main roads by YouTubers and tourist guides by giving the animals food and this has led to more elephants invading their farms and vegetation.Recently there was also the report of a dog being let loose at Wilpattu National Park in order to attract leopards, but Wildlife authorities dismissed the report and said the dog wandered into the park. Whatever the veracity of this is, it is a possibility given the harassment of animals particularly at Yala where there are absolutely no checks on jeep drivers.

The famous photos of tourists hanging out of the Ella bound trains have made it across the world but the craze for such photo opportunities are a disaster waiting to happen given how dangerous such manoeuvres are.

This Government, like its predecessors, is eager to develop the tourist industry, but what the country has not got is the basics right. The death of the two foreigners at a hostel raises serious questions if such places are ever inspected by the public health inspectors and municipal authorities who give permission for operation of such places to ensure that they are safe for those who stay in them.

Overtourism is a problem as well as the unregulated tourism industry. Without proper checks these problems will continue to worsen. So while the country reaps the benefits of tourism, we run the risk of destroying the very things that attract so many foreigners to travel here if we fail to make the industry sustainable for the future.