Sri Lanka Tourism struggling to meet ends!

By Cheranka Mendis

Midst post-war boom in arrivals, Sri Lanka Tourism is challenged with the task of meeting ends with a limited budget.

The industry is struggling to boost capacity as well as marketing midst high expectations from both within and outside the country.

Answering questions from journalists at a briefing on the upcoming United Nation World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) for South East Asia and the Pacific from 24-26 March in Colombo, Sri Lanka Tourism Chairman Dr. Nalaka Godahewa said that the budget for tourism promotion is close to Rs. 1 billion but due to the financial restrains more could not be done for the World Cup to promote the country.

It was disclosed that recently he received an sms asking whether Sri Lanka can do similar to what India has done with a painted slogan “Incredible India” at World Cup grounds but since the cost for such a banner is an approximate USD 1 million this could not be repeated in Sri Lanka.

“Even to develop the basics in Passikuda an approximate Rs. 300-400 million is needed, but our budget is something like Rs.1 billion hence we cannot do everything we would like to do,” Godahewa added.

Commenting on next year’s ICC Twenty20 championship which will be hosted by Sri Lanka, Godahewa said promotion will not start immediately but later on due to limited budget.

Accommodation is however going to be a tough call, he said but the Government cannot build hotels, he reminded. “This is a private sector driven industry, the private sector must therefore build hotels,” Godahewa said adding “What the government can do is to make it easier for investors to come in, and that we have done.”

However he said with home stay programmes and apartments being an option Sri Lanka Tourism is hopeful the demand for rooms will be under control.

Tourism Chief also said 1000 rooms are to be added in the short term to the total network of rooms in the country. According to statistics of Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority as at December 2010, the total number of rooms in the country was 14, 714.

Godahewa stated that the current room capacity could house 800 to 900,000 tourists if the arrivals are consistent. “However it is not a steady flow and there are room capacity limitations. In 2010 we received 650, 000 tourists. This year if we see a growth of 30%with an arrival figure between 750,000 and 800,000 Sri Lanka will be able to accommodate the number. 2011 is not a challenge for us,” he noted. What is going to be a challenge is to build up the necessary infrastructure to cater to 2.5 million in 2016. “Time, however is on our side,” Godahewa said and when the present approved hotel projects come up in two to three years, this could be taken care of.

 “Number of tourists will depend on the availability of accommodation. Therefore the situation is not beyond control,” Godahewa asserted.