Tourism will be given new direction in a five-year plan currently being compiled by the Government, affirmed Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, while insisting the industry needs to do more to get the maximum out of Sri Lanka’s tourists.
Speaking at the occasion, the Prime Minister was critical about increasing importance given to volumes rather than value. He advocated that things have to change – and change fast.
Due to the regressive 30-year civil conflict and sluggish post-war policy implementation made in the past, Sri Lanka’s tourism industry has become constrained in terms of holistic growth compared to other countries in the region, he said, adding that Malaysia, Singapore and Maldives were showing exponential growth despite being the latecomers to the tourism sector.
“We are celebrating 50 years in tourism today; what happened to those who came after us? Take Malaysia for instance, they are entertaining 25 million tourists annually and earning over $ 22, Singapore was still a British colony when we established our Tourist Board, today they have 15 million tourists and are earning $ 19 billion. We have to think why we are still lagging behind.”
Addressing the tour operators, the Premier observed that nationwide tours given for tourists did not bring in the value that the country is in dire need of at this juncture.
“We are not looking merely at volume; I’m going to give priority to value. The big projects that we have planned out are going to be upscale. Our Cultural Triangle has about 60 odd places which we show our average traveller and finish it off in half day. To look at a similar number of sites on the Nile Cruise, it takes a minimum of four to five days. We are not selling the country; this is just some tour operators taking them around the country. This won’t happen hereafter in Sri Lanka. Why can’t people spend four to five days in the Cultural Triangle itself? How do you get the maximum out of the tourists and the hospitality industry?”
Quoting the merchant traveller Marco Polo who said that ‘Sri Lanka is the most outstanding island on its side of the world,’ Wickremesinghe noted that he aimed to redirect the tourism policy on this track.
“My Ministry is working on the five-year plan and the tourism sector will be given absolute prominence,” the Prime Minister stressed.
Moreover, outlining the Government’s proposals to boost the hospitality sector throughout the island nation, he invited foreign investors to come in to explore investing opportunities while acknowledging that the Government simply lacks capital to go ahead with all the proposed schemes.
