Tourism – we have simply missed the bus on building a planned tourism hub at selected destinations, a way to manage growth and infrastructure

A Concept Paper

The end of hostilities in May of 2009 was the ideal opportunity to identify, the areas of greatest potential for tourism, that could benefit host communities and not just limited to five star hotels. We could then have given guidelines in managing establishments in an organized way so as to provide tourists of all ilk, a safe and enjoyable haven of beauty, tranquility and enjoyment that would NATURALLY, through the grapevine of Social Media, trip advisor and the like bring in more and more people, to grow organically with everyone adhering to rules. It’s nearly ten years later and we have nothing to show. ZILCH!!

I have identified the following that should have been on the list for a planned expansion, which by today, would draw people from all over the world to these places in a limited number so that all can enjoy its benefits, without being fleeced, or disappointed in other ways as they are today.

Let us begin with by choosing the following 12 areas, which have high concentration of tourist establishments of differing quality, to which significant infrastructural development must be introduced to make the experience one that is worthy of its unique positioning. The collective below has over 1,000 Hotels of various sizes where people can stay in addition to the air B&B rooms, but with little investment on the part of the State to add value to that destination.

Sigiriya

Habarana

Trincomalee

Arugam Bay

Kalpitiya

Mirissa/Weligama

Ella

Yala

Kithulgala

Hikkaduwa

Galle

Negombo

Each area would have been developed by an in situ Tourism Development Authority, which reviews all prospective projects and considers it as part of the large overall plan, so that the infrastructure is in place to ensure that tourists have a sense of something for all, without being tacky or soul less.

The infrastructure that these places will definitely have had would be adequate Rail or Bus transport facilities as well as Stations. Currently the transport of luggage for tourists coming to Sri Lanka is a nightmare STILL NOT ADDRESSED BY ANYONE!

Others would be to categorize all Hotels and Restaurants with a star rating, having a tourism information office in each of these locations with all the information one would want at hand.

I would have a hall of some sort for evening entertainment that can have local, traditional activities as well as international dance or drama as well for entertainment. No one seems to have understood that tourists to Sri Lanka have NO night entertainment except for a few night clubs that are seedy at best!

Shops and Banks would sprout up normally, and locations for shopping centers and local polas for small produce sellers could have been set up under the auspices of the Government to permit craft and talent to be able to find economic and livelihood opportunities.

Then the sights that those particular locations have should involve Policing, Toilets, Garbage disposal and proper signage, NONE OF WHICH exist today in any of the aforementioned places. Nothing is regulated and is therefore open for exploitation, which simply results in disgust on the part of the visitor who says never again and so will not recommend to their friends.

Sri Lanka has not recognized the importance of word of mouth recommendation which usually the cheapest and most valuable marketing a place can get, and will without fail benefit that location if a person has a really good experience.

We’ve forgotten the reason people travel on holiday. It’s called EXPERIENCE THE LOCAL CULTURE AND BEAUTY of which Sri Lanka has more than OODDLES of, but not able to show it in proper light due to poor infrastructure, lack of planning and poor maintenance of places of tourism value. For crying out loud, we don’t have a sea shore clean-up process, in this age where each night the tide washes in garbage in all our 1250KM of coast line, both our garbage that flows into the seas from our rivers and that of India’s to boot.

I would go so far as also blame the tourist establishments of NOT DOING ENOUGH in the absence of Government Policy to at least do the basics in their areas to improve the tourism experience.

To summarize what I have noted above, it is a matter of common sense that does not prevail amongst the Public and Private sector tasked with improving the image of Sri Lanka, improving the experience of visitors who come to Sri Lanka, the importance of basic infrastructure as referred to above, and ensuring the safety and security of our tourists from exploitation, by unscrupulous opportunities who see a chance to make a quick buck by deception.

There is sufficient gravy to be shared by all, and we should not try to hold on to a good thing without sharing, knowing what goes around comes around, and it is better to work for the common good, than greed as eventually the former is the more profitable in the long run.

In Summary, our various state Tourism Development Organizations are simply impotent in being able to truly understand what it is that makes a true experience one of lasting value and ensures repeat business of high value. It is the private sector left to BAG whatever opportunity is available that has been allowed to develop them with scant regard to basic needs, that only the state can provide as they are Public Amenities that the private sector does not normally engage in providing. So if each of these areas has a master plan that encompasses the missing links to ensure a greater tourism value, each of he establishments in these areas will also benefit immensely.

The State has a poor record of implementing proper public infrastructure anyway, so the higher standard needed in these 12 hubs require a greater degree of management, coordinated by resident team, that looks at security/policing/public order, regulated management of sights to prevent overcrowding and hence a let down, public conveniences (toilets), tourist information kiosks, communication facilities and ATMs for cash withdrawals, regulation of the quality of establishments to an acceptable standard, reducing the harassment tourists are regularly subjected to by over eager salesmen of products of dubious value, evening entertainment centers (halls for shows) and most IMPORTANT a transport hub that connects these 12 sights with public transport of an acceptable standard that permits tourists and their luggage to safely make the journeys between these places in a sensible combination,

PS - I have much experience in listening to the last of the complaints, where there is no reasonable means for tourists, (short of hiring expensive private transport) of going from one to another of the above, which if there is a link luxury bus service, (permission for private operators to have a schedule with a printed schedule and price list, and on line booking of tickets for travel) which will I KNOW FOR CERTAIN result in a higher occupancy level and greater tourist numbers in Sri Lanka. In this tourist does not just mean foreign, it means local as well, and I will even avail myself of this facility to travel to these destinations, to enjoy the beauty of my country, if these conveniences are in place.

Everything I have suggested is a win win scenario for all stakeholders, the traveller, the transport owners, the hotels and restaurants, and the those working in tourist friendly sightseeing work, to say nothing of the additional foreign exchange for Sri Lanka