Strategic moves to counter travel advisories

by Lalin Fernandopulle

Acting Tourism Minister Faiszer Musthapha countering adverse western media publicity said the situation in Sri Lanka cannot be considered similar to Afghanistan. It is only the North and the East of Sri Lanka which are affected by the conflict and not the entire country.

The French travel advisory has warned its citizens to avoid travelling to Sri Lanka pointing out that the security situation is similar to Afghanistan.

Musthapha said the tourism industry had to counter such negative and adverse publicity by highlighting that Sri Lanka is a safe place to visit and only a few isolated incidents do take place and foreign tourists are not the targets of terror attacks.

There were war-stricken countries and they have got over negative publicity. Tourists will not keep away from destinations due to war. Sri Lankans have not stopped visiting countries that are plagued with war. The stakeholder of the industry will have to ensure that tourists were not affected by violence and that law and order will be maintained at all costs, he said.

The Acting Minister said the tourism industry has prepared a three-month tactical action plan to attract over 150,000 tourists next year which would cost nearly US $ 155 million.

The plan would be carried out through five star hotels in Colombo which lure foreign tourists to tour our country.

While the tariff slashes in hotels is good for the domestic travel sector, it would be also an opportunity to woo more foreign tourists. Tourists arrivals have dropped in the recent months.

Musthapha said there is a severe price reduction in major hotels in Colombo to attract more tourists but it has to be realistic.

The Tourism Ministry will discuss with the hotel managements on the minimum rates for customers. What is required is to improve the quality of services which would help earn more foreign exchange.

He said the industry should rather stop complaining about the poor infrastructure but instead, consider the rich resources the country has.

The action plan includes carrying out promotions in UK, Germany, China, India and the Middle East. These countries were selected because of non negative travel advisories, accessibility through air connections and a return on investment.

The private sector involvement in industry will no longer be a consultative role but a decision making one. The stakeholders will have to make decisions and implement them for the growth of the industry.

Musthapha said consensus among the Tourist Board, the Ministry and representatives of the Travel Associations is vital to develop the industry.

lalin@sundayobserver.lk