Sri Lanka targets 4.5 m tourist arrivals by 2020

by Rohana Jayalal

Sri Lanka is targeting 2.2 million tourist arrivals this year and 4.5 million in 2020, Chairman, Sri Lanka Tourism Promotions Bureau and Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority, Paddy Withana told a meeting at the Sri Lanka Tourism Board.

Sri Lanka failed to achieve the two million tourist arrivals target last year and future targets have been amended to realistic levels, Withana said.

He said there is even a possibility of adding 200,000 tourist arrivals to this year’s target if international trends continue. Sri Lanka will look to China and India for growth, while looking for niche sector growth from sports, adventure, Meetings, Incentives, Conventions and Exhibitions (MICE) and cruise tourism.

From the beginning of last year, the government had set different targets for 2020, including initial acceptance of the previous regime’s master plan, adjusting it later to 4.5 million arrivals, and revising it to 4.2 million arrivals at the end of last year.

Withana said he was confident of achieving the 4.5 million tourist arrivals target.

This was despite such a target needing a 20.4 percent compounded growth rate annually compared to the diminishing growth trends recently.The global economic outlook for 2016 looks grim with a downturn in China. However, even through the 2008 financial crisis, certain segments, such as cruise tourism, recorded strong growth.

The past regime had set targets of two million tourist arrivals for 2015, 2.5 million in 2016 and four million in 2020. Sri Lanka attracted 1.8 million tourists last year. Industry sources said the previous regime fiddled with figures to achieve its targets since 2010. The most overt adjustment was seen when the definition of a tourist was changed to international standards when targets were not met in 2013. The growth rates of tourist arrivals have been on the decline, from 26.7 percent in 2013 to 19.8 percent in 2014, down 17.8 percent in 2015. Central Bank statistics showed that tourism had attracted US$ 2.86 billion in 2015, and US$ 2.43 billion in 2014. Withana said the authorities were looking at methods of minimising the negative impact on the community and the environment. The chairman said trade familiarisation tours and visiting journalist programs organised by the travel industry were key attributes.

According to the chairman, 300 travel agents will be hosted while the SLTPB hosted 17 travel agents from France last month. “We hope to welcome over 200 print media journalists, including bloggers,” Withana said.

He said the SLTPB was eagerly waiting to showcase Sri Lanka at the ITB Berlin Travel Fair in Germany this month, the largest travel industry exhibition which attracts 185 countries, with 64 Sri Lankan companies expected to participate this time.

Around Rs. 187 million has been set apart for visiting journalist programs while Rs. 100 million will be spent on trade fair related expenses. A Tourism Information Centre (TIC) will be set up in the transit lounge at the BIA while the Kandy Cultural Centre is also being considered as a probable location for a TIC.

Marketing Director, Sri Lanka Tourism Promotions Bureau (SLTPB), Madubhani Perera told Sunday Observer Business, “We are overlooking SriLankan Airlines outdoor and social media promotional campaigns in the UK, Germany, France and Japan. We will use their offices and connections in those countries and we have presented a Cabinet paper and are hoping to kick-start it by April. The SLTPB plans to obtain proposals for joint collaborative campaigns from a handful of international airlines and SriLankan Airlines and the budget for this is Rs. 50 million.”

She said the commencement of direct flights to Sri Lanka by Austrian Air had provided an opportunity for promotions, adding that Air China and Air Korea were also on the cards for joint promotions. “We are currently holding discussions with them and hope to finalise agreements within three to four months,” she said. This year, the Sri Lankan brand image was set to get a boost with its first digital marketing campaign which would be unveiled in potential source markets.“We hope to spend Rs. 200 million on digital marketing and considering which platforms we should work on. We are not planning TV advertising because it’s very expensive and we still have a balance payments to be made for advertisements we did on the last occasion,” Perera said.

The SLTPB is slated to spend Rs. 1.5 billion on country specific marketing which includes up to 22 countries from its annual marketing budget. The top five countries which will get the bulk of the exposure from the proposed promotions include China, India, UK, France and the Middle Eastern countries. Rs. 800 million has been allocated for these countries.