Considerable expansion in Lankan economy - UNWTO Rep

by Nilma DOLE

Following the end of three decades of conflict in 2009, Sri Lanka has shown considerable expansion in its economy over the past two years, said Regional Director for Asia and the Pacific, United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) Xu Jing.Speaking at the EXPO 2012 symposium organised by the Export Development Board (EDB), the UNWTO representative said, "Sri Lanka, as an emerging economy, has witnessed unprecedented growth in terms of tourist arrivals with a very strong performance of 14 percent, up from six percent and this growth rate is on the increase every year.

Last year, Sri Lanka received 850,000 international tourists and in this regard, the UNWTO wishes to congratulate the Government of Sri Lanka for its vision as implemented in their National Development Strategy."

He said Sri Lanka is now using tourism as a tool for wide distribution of economic and social benefits by generating direct and indirect employment which can even contribute to the GDP.Sri Lanka will join other countries to post high tourism rates as the South Asian region will be the fastest growing sub-region of tourism in the world by 2030.

Promoting tourism

"The vision of the Sri Lankan Government in promoting tourism is something that is not done single-handedly, but has a multi-sectoral approach. We congratulate the EDB (Export Development Board) and the Government of Sri Lanka for putting these three sectors of export, trade and tourism together into one," he said.

Jing said that tourism goes beyond tour guides, hotels and travel agents, being more about social, economic, trade, employment generation and most importantly, a good national agenda.

"Last year, we had about 980 million international tourists crossing borders around the world and that gave us four percent of growth, when the rest of the world, especially in Europe, have been faced with dismay and a lot of uncertainties."

The UNWTO regional head also said that this year, although the growth might be slighty slow, at a rate of three to four percent, it has been expected that tourism as an industry for society can achieve significant growth.

"If I relate to the fears of recession that remain across Europe, we have to take into consideration Europe's historically high unemployment rate and the increase in taxation that is impacting our travel industry," he said.

The UNWTO has also taken a step further by declaring the decade from 2010 to 2020 as the decade of travel and tourism. "This is about an industry that has emerged as one of most promising sectors, both socially and economically, for creating a sustainable climate as well as potential for economic growth," said Jing.

The good news is that emerging economies such as Asia and the Pacific were able to receive 217 million international tourists with a six percent growth last year.

"This year we are going to celebrate a particular landmark where one billion international tourists will be crossing borders.

This is the perfect occasion to reflect on how we can maximise the opportunities in the tourism sector, stimulating economic growth, generating jobs and sustainable development," said Jing.

By 2030, there will be a 3.3 percent growth year-on-year in the next 20 years. According to Jing, this growth certainly creates immense opportunities for destinations around the world for developing and emerging economies alike.

According to latest estimates by UNWTO (United Nations World Tourism Organisation), by 2030 it has been estimated that around 1.8 billion international tourists will cross the borders for leisure, business and other purposes.

Jing said, "For the first time, the emerging economies such as Asia, Latin America, Central and Eastern Europe, Africa and the Middle East have posted impressive tourist growth. At the centre of all of these, we stress sustainable and green tourism."

In consistency with this global trade, the emerging destinations in the Asian and Pacific region have made considerable effort especially during the last decade, especially in areas such as infrastructure and environmental protection.