Tourism booms in Arugam Bay - local stakeholders reap benefits

by Gamini Warushamana

Although the unpleasant crow of peacocks woke us up at the break of dawn - sharp at 4.30 am, we were in the coast before dawn to view the spectacular scene of the rising sun in the Eastern horizon.

There were many people who had started the day before us and hundreds of foreigners were among them. Dozens of foreign tourists were at Meenas, a small restaurant, and they were hungrily eating hot egg rotties.

"Tasty Sri Lankan food", one exclaimed and the restaurant staff could not meet the demand. The hot rotties were passed directly from the pan to the hands of customers. This is how the day starts in the coastal town of Arugam Bay, where the surfing season was in full swing.

Arugam Bay, well-known as the 'surfers paradise' was crowded with foreign tourists. By around 5 am there were a large number of tourists on the beach to see the picturesque scenery, watch the fishing boats return after their expedition the previous night or just imbibing the surroundings and aimlessly walking.

Infrastructure

This is the tail-end of the surfing season that began in April and ends in August or September. The small town has visibly changed completely in the past couple of years and today, infrastructure has been developed making access easy and tourists are provided with all the facilities.

A large number of hotels, lodges and restaurants have been opened while several others are under construction. As the town is packed to capacity, finding a hotel room is not easy during the surfing season.

On the other hand, the rates are much higher than before. However, in the evening if there is a vacant room you can bargain and lower the rates because hoteliers do not miss the opportunity of earning money during the four or five-month season.

Therefore, rather than sticking to the fixed rates and earning nothing they would agree to a 50 percent discount.

It is clear that myriads of stakeholders are reaping the benefits of this boom in the tourism industry by catering to tourists at various levels.

In addition to big and small hotels and lodges, small restaurants that sell cheap food, three-wheeler drivers, surf board providers, village youth who train amateur surfers and grocers - everyone of them earns a good income during the season.

Faenck of France	Rans Choen, a musician from Israel	Amila Gamage

Three-wheelers are the main mode of transport between Arugam Bay and Kumana National Park and three-wheel drivers said that they earn a good income.

The proprietor of the Surf and Sun Restaurant, Akmon Silva said that business has been continuously growing since 2010 and this was the best year.

"We have been here for 10 years and during the time of terrorism there was no business because foreigners did not come."

"After 2010, the situation began to change and today, thousands of local and foreign tourists visit Arugam Bay."

"From my experience, surfing this year has seen an extremely successful season. The 2012 and 2013 seasons too were good," he said.

Food

According to Silva, the supply of cheap and low quality food and services to foreigners is the main problem, professional service providers face.

His argument is that foreigners come here to enjoy and spend money and the role of tourist-related businesses is to provide quality service.

"Where we are concerned we can't supply cheap, unhygienic food at low prices and if cheaper restaurants continue to supply low quality food, we will lose our business," he said.

'Break Point', a small restaurant, was packed with foreign tourists. The proprietor, Amila Gamage said that most of the Israeli and European tourists dine at his restaurant because he offers quality food.

"I import all the food stuff from Israel and Europe and I provide the quality they prefer. Price is not a matter for them and my prices are the highest in this market but I have good business during the season," he said.

Gamage too has the same opinion as that of Silva with regard to quality food and service. He is not concerned about the cheap service providers and to him they are not a challenge. "The price of basic food in my restaurant is over Rs.1,000. I cannot reduce it because I maintain standards," Gamage said.

He said that tourism in Arugam Bay has special features because most of the tourists come for surfing and they stay here for at least a week or two. They come in groups or families.

But all are not into surfing and while those who wish to surf go to the sea, the others, especially the women and children, stay on the beach or at restaurants and therefore, there should be a safe environment for them.

Incidents

He said that there are frequent incidents where women complain of harassment and unpleasant experiences. However, police officers patrol the road and the beach day and night. One officer told us that there have been no major incidents reported this season.

The Arugam Bay town is busy from dawn to midnight. Foreigners prefer to walk at night and stay in clubs or restaurants late into the night. But the streets are dark because there are no street lights. According to Gamage, business has not fully developed here and a lot of services are not available.

For instance, there is no place to buy a newspaper or magazine. Over 200 copies of newspapers could easily be sold each day during the tourist season, he said.

Dozens of foreign tourists who shared their experience with us expressed satisfaction and none complained of any problem.

Cam Ellis from Australia said, "This is my first visit to Sri Lanka and Arugam Bay. We came here for surfing and this is a nice tropical coastal city and the sea here is the best for surfing."

"We are enjoying it. The country, people and food are nice. We will stay here for three weeks and hope to come back again," he said.

Newcastle also from Australia said, "We have no issues here.

The food is good and the people are friendly. We had a nice surfing experience. I came alone and one of my friends from Canada will join me next week and we will stay for three weeks. We are middle-spending travellers and came here specially for surfing".

A musician from Israel, Rans Choen said that he stays three or four weeks in Arugam Bay and plays with Sri Lankan bands. He is not a surfer but was accompanied by a group of friends. He too appreciates the friendliness of the people, food and experience.

Faenck from France said, "This is my second visit to Sri Lanka and Arugam Bay. I first came here 16 years ago and at the time the situation was terrible. It is amazing to see the improvement in the area."

"This time I came with my family and we will be here for three weeks. Arugam Bay is one of the best places for surfing and today it is slightly crowded.

This is a lovely beach and I will recommend it to European tourists as that this is a safe tourism destination. We hope to come again," he said.

Apart from surfing, Arugam Bay offers diverse tourism experiences in close proximity. With the improved roads, travel time to Kumana and Lahugala National Parks and archaeological sites has reduced.

By August tourist arrivals reached 1,000,000 and achieving this year's target of 1.5 million tourists seems realistic. The industry has a target of 2.5 million tourists by the end of 2016. Tourism in Arugam Bay demonstrates that the benefits of the booming industry is being dispersed to a range of stakeholders. This is vital to reduce disparity in income distribution.