National Development Strategy sets the tone:

Tourism sector poised for greater growth

By P. Krishnaswamy

Sri Lanka tourism has recorded a steady growth since the elimination of terrorism from the face of the country over four years ago and the projected 2.5 million arrivals by the year 2016 fetching the targeted US$ 03 billion and even more will be achieved by 2016 with the many activities of the Government focussed on promoting tourism and making the country one of the best tourist destinations in the world, Deputy Minister of Economic Development Muthu Sivalingam told the Sunday Observer.

Under the five-year Tourism Development Strategy set in 2011, the Government is also hoping to create employment opportunities for 500,000 people, he said. The various activities that will contribute to the achievement of the projected target and even beyond will include the Commonwealth Heads of State and Government (CHOGM) Meeting scheduled for November 15-17, President Mahinda Rajapaksa's visits to friendly nations to promote bilateral trade and relations, the visits of several Heads of State and Foreign Ministers to the country in the recent months and the government special focus on the hotel and hospitality sector, he said. The activities of the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA) and the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau (SLTPB) which include visits of their officials to the economically developing countries for promotional work will also play an important role, according to the Deputy Minister.

Sri Lanka was presented with the Most Potential Outbound Tourist Destinations award at the Jinhua Travel New Model Award at the Jinhua Travel New Model Awards Ceremony organised by the Bejing Times, authoritative sources informed. The Government has approved the sponsorship of 100 Chinese tour agents to visit the island this year to promote it as a tourist destination. Several promotional events were held in India with a view to attracting investments and tourists to the country.

For the first time, the country will make a strong bid to host the world's largest leisure event - ITB Berlin, the sources said.

Tourist arrivals for the first seven months increased 12.5 percent to 611,222 from 543,205 recorded in the same period last year, while arrivals in the month of July increased 9.5 percent to 98,944 from 90,338 a year ago, according to data provided by the SLTDA.

Tourist arrivals increased by 13 percent in January this year, with the number of visitors exceeding 97,000. Last year the the annual tourism revenue surpassed the government expectations, exceeding US $ 01 billion.With the government and the industry anticipating more than 1.2 million tourist arrivals this year to support achieve the ambitious goal of 2.5 million arrivals generating more than US$ 03 billion foreign exchange by 2016, a 20 percent growth is required this year followed by no less than 29 percent growth in the next three years, according to SLTPB sources.

Arrivals from India after several months of decline has shown progress with arrivals for the first seven months showing an increase of 2.1 percent. China, the next focus market of SLTDA has been stable, while the West Asia (Middle East) showed a drop of 49.9 percent in July due to various unforeseen reasons. Tourist arrivals from North America during the first seven months of this year increased by 7.6 percent to 36,986 as against 34,373 during the same period last year, according to the sources.

The month of July recorded a surge of 10.5 percent to 45,930 from 41,584 in July last year. Tourist arrivals from Eastern Europe increased by 22.4 percent to 42,130 during the first seven months of this year as against 34,413 during the same period last year. The the month of July recorded an increase of 36.6 percent to 4,433 from 3,246 in July last year. Arrivals from West Asia (Middle East) showed a decline of 7.9 percent during the seven months in review to 27,248 as against 29,595 in the same period last year. Arrivals from East Asia increased by 21.9 percent to 81,817 from 67,133 during the seven months, with a 17.6 percent increase in the month of July to 12,507 from 10,636, while travellers from the neighbouring South Asia increased by 9.8 percent to 146,588 from 133,554 during the same period last year, with arrivals in July increasing by 24.6 percent to 20,974 from 16,837 last year, according to the SLTPB statistics. Arrivals from Australasia increased by 14 percent to 30,604 from 26,838 during the seven months with a 5.8 percent increase to 5,356 from 5,063 recorded in July. Arrivals from Russia increased by 32.4 percent to 17,661 from 13,342 during the same period last year. Arrivals in July went up by 83.2 percent to 1,792 from 978 last year, according the the SLTPB.

The Government has identified the need to develop very sound infrastructure facilities to achieve a sustainable growth in the tourism sector in the years to come. Being in line with the expected growth, the government has implemented some mega resort development projects in the Eastern cost of the country. The government has already launched special projects in the Southern and the Eastern coasts with the aim of achieving this goal.

In Kalpitiya and Passikudah the Government is implementing two mega resort development projects. A seven star hotel of the Kong-based Shangri-La Hotel chain is coming up in Colombo. Sub-projects to update the hotel and hospitality services will also be launched throughout the island, including the in the Northern province. This will ensure service standards while safeguarding the socio-cultural and environmental concerns, the sources said.

Sri Lanka Tourism also launched the Kalpitiya Tourism Resort Project. Measures were initiated for the acquisition of 5,000 acres for the project was initiated and the proposed resort will have the highest number of rooms - of 5,000 rooms in all. Kalpitiya Tourism promotion zone, took off the ground when 'Dutch Bay Resorts' laid the foundation stone for an 80-villa luxury resort in Kalpitiya, recently. One of the leading hotel chains in the world, Six Senses Group has come forward to manage this property which would be one of Sri Lanka's most expensive hotels stamping investor confidence for the industry. Dutch Bay Resorts would be investing US $ 175 million for the project with $ 75 million being invested for the first phase which includes the construction of 75 luxury boutique chalets. In addition, the property would include a Spa Club, Floating Restaurants and a helipad where tourists could land after touching down at the Colombo Air port. Prior to 1983 Passikudha was a popular resort for tourists, both foreign and local. It was located by the bay on a land area of 150 acres in extent. The resort will have a total of 500 rooms on completion of the project in several stages.

With its futuristic vision on the tourism industry, the government aims to attract 950,000 tourists to the country during 2012. The revenue generated by the tourism industry is expected to surpass US$ 1 billion within the next year.

During the next five year period the country targets to attract US$ 3,000 million worth Foreign Direct investment (FDI) from the tourism sector most of which will be invested in the tourism infrastructure development. There will be an increase in the foreign exchange earnings from US$ 500 million in 2010 to USD 03 billion by the year 2016.

With these strategies in place, the tourism industry of Sri Lanka is poised for growth well in line with the national effort of making Sri Lanka as the emerging Wonder of Asia, the sources said.