Travel

To attract more tourists:

Concerted marketing plan, a necessity

by Surekha GALAGODA

"Sri Lanka needs to have a concerted marketing plan to promote the destination and the product to attract more travellers to the country or else we will be left behind as India, Maldives and Nepal are aggressively marketing the destinations, said Chairman Jetwing Hotels and PATA International, Hiran Cooray.

Hiran Cooray

Speaking at a meeting organised by the Council for Business with Britain he said that most people are of the view that marketing the destination is not necessary as peace has dawned but contrarily to be competitive we should market our destination and the peaceful situation in the country will help attract more tourists to our country.

In addition Sri Lanka should upgrade its products to suit the needs of different travellers.

For example most hotels do not have facilities for aged and differently abled tourists, but they are the high spenders.

Family structures are changing and to attract them we have to change the product.

In the future there will be families with father and children on holiday since both parents can not take leave at the same time. The needs of the Middle Eastern traveller, young traveller, independent traveller and green traveller are different.

Tourism products should cater to all these different needs to attract everybody and increase foreign exchange earnings.

Cooray said that though there was a rush to purchase land in the East only John Keells Holdings has started construction as construction is expensive.

In addition, it takes two years to complete construction which includes the time taken for obtaining approvals.

This is a major reason which makes investors think twice before investing. As a solution, the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA) will start a one stop shop concept where an investor will be able to get all the necessary approvals within three months.

This will speed up construction, but investors should be cautious and adopt sustainable construction to protect the environment.

Cooray said that Sri Lanka is in urgent need of room capacity.

We have only 14,000 rooms at present. According to estimates we will need about 35000 rooms within the next 2-3 years to cater to increasing tourist arrivals.

He said that at present we get good prices.

If we are to increase prices further the hotels built in the 1970's and 1980's should be rebuilt and not refurbished to cater to present trends which include large bathrooms.

He said if a tour operator visits a hotel he goes to the bathroom before he goes to the room and if it is small he will not want to bring the tourists.

Therefore to get a premium price of $ 200 per tourist it is necessary to have bigger bathrooms, a good product and keep the country green.

Another challenge facing the industry is the issue of human resources. English is an issue at lower levels.

At present discussions are on to open a satellite training school either in Batticaloa or Trincomalee while 300 youth from the East are being trained with support from USAID.

Long haul travel will be threatened with UK imposing a levy of 80 pounds per traveller from UK to long destinations while Germany and France will follow suit.

This move will affect markets like ours said Cooray.

In addition the hotels are lobbying with the government for the last 5-6 years to at least give liquor licences to hotels around the sacred areas as this is hampering our business. Around Mekong Temple in Vietnam there are places to visit with, pubs and bars as well as book shops.

A visitor will spend two hours in the temple and about ten hours visiting the surrounding areas.

There are many priests in the city. While they pay utmost respect to the temple, the tourists are looked after which gives them additional business.

He said the country should adopt to the latest trends if we are to attract more tourists to the country.

Expressing his views on the tour operators in the informal sector he said that it is better to give a general pardon and bring them to the formal sector so that they too can be regulated.

Executive Vice President and Sector Head Leisure Inbound, John Keells Holdings Wasantha Leelananda said that one of the pressing needs is the shortage of hotel rooms. He said that this winter there will be 800 tourists flying to Sri Lanka from Scandinavia per week.

To cater to increasing demand the entire infrastructure needs to be upgraded. Leelananda said that Sri Lanka should create new products and activities to cater to the increasing demand.

Open sky policy internally is a necessity while more activities should be created around water ways.

He said that rail infrastructure should be upgraded.

The so called luxury train is no way near international standards.

There is much more to be done to promote ayurveda and health tourism as well as adventure tourism. Leelananda was of the view that there should be a zero tolerance policy on harassment as this is a big problem not any better to terrorism.

'I feel it' wins award for Sifani at Facets

The Sri Lanka Gem and Jewellery Association (SLGJA) presented the Overall Winner's Award of the Jewellery Design Competition 2010 to Designer Sifani Jewellers V. A. Achini Indika. "It is a recognition that we are capable of producing world class designs with skilled local craftsmen," said Managing Director Sifani Jewellers, Rizwan Sahabdeen. "This is not the first time. We have been featured internationally by Vogue and Tattler and have won many accolades. We are extremely honoured that we have now been recognised locally as well." He noted that the competition provides a platform for skilled local craftsmen to showcase their creations. Building on the award a new range of jewellery will be produced in the coming months.

Tuk Tuks and Trade Fairs promote tourism

The second edition of the Tuk Tuks rally concluded with many colourful three-wheelers brightening the streets of Colombo recently.

Second year into the event the rally, which covers a vast part of the island awarded its proceeds towards 5 new tourist friendly tuk tuks.

Tuk Tuks or three-wheelers have been identified as an important and interesting mode of transport for tourists around Sri Lanka.

Acting Managing Director of Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau (SLTPB), Kiriella spearheaded the service 'Tourist Friendly Tuk Tuk' last year. The scheme introduced metered taxies with accepted tourist standards for the benefit of visiting foreign tourists to Sri Lanka.

In the span of a year 50 three wheelers were introduced.

Kiriella and his team plan on 'Visit Sri Lanka 2011' - a program of activities with the tourism industry under the guidance of the Ministry of Economic Development. As part of the plan, the SLTPB will be looking into new marketing, public relations and promotional methods in order to attract tourists into the country.

SriLankan's expansion plans include new aircraft

SriLankan Airlines unveiled expansion plans, including the induction of seven more aircraft in 2011, launching a floatplane domestic service, adding new destinations, luxurious flat-bed seating in Business Class, and diversifying into several related areas of activity.

Member of Parliament Namal Rajapaksa speaks at SriLankan’s 31st anniversary celebrations.

These plans were announced at the Airline's 31st anniversary celebrations held recently in Katunayake attended by the two Deputy Ministers for Ports and Aviation, Dayashritha Tissera and Rohitha Abeygunawardena, and Member of Parliament Namal Rajapaksa.

The plans include the acquisition of five Airbus A320s and two Twin Otters. Three of the A320s will be the first brand new aircraft acquired by the airline since the year 2000, and will be fitted with the latest Audio-Video On Demand (AVOD) entertainment systems. The airline will also re-launch its SriLankan Air Taxi domestic service this winter, with plans to fly to more than a dozen destinations islandwide including the city of Colombo.

Plans are also being finalized to launch services in 2011 to several cities including Guangzhou in China and expanding the global network to over 50 destinations. The airline's existing long-haul fleet of A330 and A340 aircraft will be fitted with flat-beds, providing absolute luxury for Business Class passengers on all flights to Europe and other long-haul routes.

"SriLankan Airlines intends to be a catalyst in the country's economic expansion by supporting the efforts of the Government of Sri Lanka to transform the island into an economic hub. Our plans will spur growth in all types of export and import industries, with particular emphasis on tourism. We believe this is the right time for the national carrier to expand products and services. Our country is at peace, tourists are flocking to our shores in record numbers, and the economy is growing," said SriLankan Chairman, Nishantha Wickremasinghe.

The Airline's subsidiary SriLankan Catering (Pvt) Ltd. took over the management of the 24-roomed transit hotel at BIA last month. SriLankan Catering also recently launched a new laundry service targeted at airlines using BIA, hotels in the Negombo region, and factories in the area's industrial zones.

The government recently underlined the leading role expected from the national carrier by purchasing the shareholding held by Emirates, and increasing the Treasury's stake to 94.68 percent. The remaining 5.32 percent shareholding is held by employees of the airline.

Wickremasinghe said "SriLankan continued to support the nation's travel and freight requirements even during the worst of times, when the global economy was in recession over the last two years. During this time, we acquired four aircraft, launched services to Shanghai and Milan, and significantly expanded our freight handling operations at BIA. But all this pales into insignificance in comparison to what we have planned for 2011."

SriLankan Engineering is also likely to secure its largest ever contract for aircraft maintenance from a regional airline for the year 2011, and is likely to see further investment to enhance its facilities at BIA.

The airline has already signed an MoU with SIM Industries BV of the Netherlands to set up a full flight simulator centre at BIA, which it will market to other airlines in the region for training purposes.