The Alternative Accommodation A-rising A-threatening but A-winning!

AIR B&B

It is time the Government recognizes the potential of the true Air B&B concept, how widespread and well received it has become both on the part of the small entrepreneur, wishing to make some added money, but also on the part of the visitor/tourist as the satisfied client, who comes with a purpose in mind that often differs with that of either the higher priced Boutique Hotel or the Star Class Hotels that cater to a very different vacation experience.

I have considerable experience in people I know who now swear by this means of accommodation as one that with MINIMAL cost can bring added value and tourist dollars to the Sri Lankan experience from tourists, which will not necessarily eat into the traditional Star Class Hotel, that will inevitably have to face this challenge, WHETHER OR NOT the Govt. turns its attention to assisting this long forgotten sector, in favor of the star class providers, who form the bulk of the stakeholders in the partnership with the State in improving the Tourism Product.

We know of cities like Barcelona that have rallied together to ban and in someway restrict the rise of the Air B&B lodging as it is eating into the rental market making it impossible for locals to live in Barcelona due to the rising accommodation cost. However that is something that is NOT an issue in Sri Lanka as the Air B&B does not compete directly with accommodation for the working class which is in any case hard to come by and those letting homes on Air B&B will not replace renters with rooms!

That settled, it is simply a WIN WIN proposition. The western tourist, one we are encouraging, now uses Air B&B in preference to Hotels on Bookings.com because they believe they get better value for money, as well as a chance that today’s tourist prefers to interact with the local hosts in a way that travelers of yesteryear never desired unequivocally.

Foreign Exchange Benefits

There is concern that Air B&B take a commission say 10% in foreign currency for this service, which would otherwise accrue to the local agent. That is simply no longer true as it is a lost argument. Contrarily, it is cheaper than spending the money that the Government intends to carry out a MASSIVE international campaign highlighting the Country, that sometimes overlooks its true attraction to the traveller, as sights are highlighted over the traditional way of life and people that the Air B&B concept encourages visitors to immerse themselves in. In this way there is a better chance at ground level to both give local artisans, skilled labor and service personnel to share in the tourist dollar than otherwise.

Let us not forget that many tourists just book the room, on Air B&B and the homeowner does the add ons. It maybe the food that is offered as an addition or lower cost access to the various local sites, using local transport, and not high cost tourist transport, that many tourist feel is too expensive.

When taken in total, it is arguable that the actual amount spent this way could exceed that spent on a star class lodging as there would be more disposable dollars for small local things and restaurants that high cost tourist accommodation would suck out of the system if that were the alternative. This therefore actually and perversely adds to the local economy and to the direct economy in money spent on the ground.

Much of the tourist dollar spent in the star class hotel is on imported capital equipment and also imported food stuffs. With Air B&B customers, it is more on local food and local handicrafts, adding directly to the local economy. It is commonly the case that small Air B&B lodgings offer simple local food, and local drinks of King Coconut.

This leaves more money for shopping locally, even sharing meals with locals and building a relationship, that could result in repeat visits that high priced and poor serviced hotels cannot offer. I know of friends who have repeat visitors as they are so satisfied with the value for money offered this way, and even encourage their friends to stay. This I am convinced is more likely in this type of accommodation than it is for our Prestige Hotels, which when compared with the same product offered in competing countries is sometimes unreasonably too expensive, denting a tourist’s experience and definitely not one to be repeated.

The low cost of entry into this sector, MUST BE seen in positive light, which will encourage more people to offer their services and encourage more tourists to come to Sri Lanka, and therefore build and improve and expand the tourist product more than the traditional market. Lets be frank, this market is expanding, while the Star Class model is declining and it is better for those hotels who believe they are owed more from the Tourist Development Authority to encourage their type of visitor, to cede to the newly expanding sector of the budget traveller who may not be poor, but would like to begin their country visit this way, and perhaps in future with age graduate to the more expensive products, like the Boutique Hotels.

I am convinced this is a very different clientele, so one is NOT losing out from the other, as zero sum game, and instead this is the cheapest, easiest and most widespread method of ensuring the tourist dollar percolates down to society and with the multiplier effect working at that level, improve the living standards of people who need to be assisted. 

In CONCLUSION, I believe this is the quickest means by which we can increase the overall tourist spend in Sri Lanka. It is now up to the Government to do the needful to encourage small business owners in this regard by conducting workshops and extending subsidized loan schemes of up to Rs1M each to these entrepreneurs to do up their homes to this minimum standard.