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| Sunday, 21 April 2002 |
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"Developing domestic tourism essential" by Elmo Leonard Two hundred acres of land in Nilaweli-Trincomalee, allocated by the Ceylon Tourist Board (CTB) for the development of tourism, had no takers, Renton de Alwis, former CTB chairman said. The CTB would allot this land to entrepreneurs on the understanding that they identify a new segment of tourists they could bring into the country; new concepts the tourists would be offered; how the community would benefit; and how the environment would be sustained. The people of Trincomalee are seeking the revival of tourism as a means of socio-economic uplift following the ceasefire. Sri Lanka's Tourism Plan of 1966 had advocated the development of tourism in Trincomalee. De Alwis is currently a consultant to T&T Management Options (Asia) and is based in Singapore. He spoke on 'Investment opportunities in travel and tourism' at a recent seminar organised by Athwela, the Sinhala business journal. The war in Sri Lanka was the stumbling block for the development of tourism. Now that the situation has changed, the potential for tourism has to be identified. Chinese and Indian tourists would be a large market segment for Sri Lanka in the near future. Soon, China is expected to add Sri Lanka and the Maldives to its Official Chinese Outbound List of Nations. China already has five million outbound tourists, and that number would increase to 60 million by 2060. The potential for Indian tourists had long been overlooked. Civil aviation authorities had not allowed the required number of seats for Sri Lanka to fly her Indian visitors to the island. De Alwis advocated the setting-up of a fast ferry service between Sri Lanka and the subcontinent for the purpose. There was also the opportunity for cruise lines to ply between the two countries. The number of persons engaged in the global tourism industry would grow to 385 million by 2008 from 250 million. Today, the worldwide hospitality industry is a three trillion dollar business. But Sri Lanka's earnings from tourism are very low compared with those of other nations, de Alwis said. In 2000, Sri Lanka had 400,000 visitors and tourism was the fourth largest foreign exchange earner. Then, a tourist stayed an average 10.2 nights and spent $ 60 per day. De Alwis blamed the Sri Lankan private sector for neglecting domestic tourism, which had a very high potential. The CTB now has plans for its advancement. "There cannot be a good international tourism industry without a strong base of domestic tourism," de Alwis stressed. |
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