By Rehan Jayawickreme
Sri Lanka, identified as one of the top island destinations in the world, is undoubtedly one of the most beautiful countries to visit. The pristine beaches in the south and east coasts and the cool hills of Nuwara Eliya are just a couple of the amazing vistas that entice tourists to visit the island paradise. However, disastrous policy decisions and ad hoc decisions by successive governments have affected the success of the country’s tourism industry.
Sri Lanka Tourism has not had a clear plan or vision for the future of this bustling trade. Nevertheless, this cannot be blamed on just the incumbent Government. Successive governments have failed to have a clear vision for tourism and how to successfully evolve with the rest of the world. There is also no clear national policy on this subject and whoever heads Sri Lanka Tourism has not been able to showcase improvements, because most good decisions are shut down by those at the ministerial level.
There have been several areas of concern in relation to the country’s tourism industry.
The Mirissa incident
In 2017, the Coast Conservation Department, headed by then President Maithripala Sirisena, made an ad hoc decision to destroy nearly 70 restaurants which allegedly violated the coast conservation policy. This decision could have been accepted if the same rules applied to the rest of the coastal belt which included the rest of the south as well as east coasts. However, it was only Mirissa that had to deal with this decision. Some establishments which had been around for decades were broken down with no prior notice given to their owners.
Years of savings and business were destroyed in a matter of minutes.
While I do personally believe in law and order, I also believe that the same should be applied across the board and not just in selective places. There cannot be one law for the south and one for the rest.
Licensing regulations and bureaucratic red tape
A valid liquor licence is of paramount importance for the growth of establishments and the industry in general. It is no secret that bribes are being taken from those without a valid liquor licence. I once approached a few establishments in Weligama and Mirissa and inquired as to why the relevant establishment didn’t obtain a valid licence. Their response was that they went to the Tourist Board to obtain the initial approvals, and that even though their applications were accepted, there had been no feedback after.
I found out later that the reason the applications were stopped from being processed was due to the influence of a local politician in the area.
Multi-million dollar advertising campaigns with flimsy taglines
One thing that Sri Lanka Tourism and the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA) have been famous for is spending exorbitant amounts of money on things that can have homegrown solutions. This reminds me of when the authority spent a massive amount of money on the #SoSriLanka tagline. Not only does it make no sense, but it could have easily been handed over to a low cost advertising agency.
Sri Lanka has so much young talent, but our team of “experts” decided, over and over again, to waste taxpayer money by spending it like their own money.
In other developed countries, these acts of financial mismanagement have landed people in jail, but in #SoSriLanka they received promotions and incentives.
The Uber and PickMe fiasco
When I served as the Mayor of Weligama, I received a call from a friend involved in the tourism sector. What he said both alarmed and shocked me. It also made me feel disgusted at how certain areas in this country operated. A tourist who had landed in Sri Lanka had made Weligama her first stop, had taken a train from Fort, reached Weligama, and then used her phone to call a local cab driver attached to the area. A few minutes after she got into her cab, a few angry trishaw drivers had allegedly forcefully stopped the vehicle and assaulted the driver. The driver who owned the vehicle had also had a PickMe sticker on his car as he did a few hires in Colombo representing that particular company. This enraged the lawless trishaw drivers further and they had allegedly threatened the man with death. They had later proceeded to threaten the tourist who was absolutely shell-shocked by what had happened. Rightfully so, she had uploaded the video on social media pages and it went viral.
I then proceeded to inform the Senior Police Head in the area who helped in apprehending the suspects. They were severely warned by the Police after they were apprehended and I also informed them that if they were caught using these tactics, I would be compelled to cancel their parking registration within the city.
Nevertheless, it is never too late to correct course and get the country’s tourism industry on track to achieve it’s targeted goals.
Steps to improve tourism in the country and to ensure the safety of those that visit Sri Lanka:
- Issue a seasonal liquor licence to unlicensed establishments
- Establish a Sri Lankan Tourism “one-stop-shop” in all major tourist areas
- Create a national tourism plan after consulting all major players in the game
- Empower the Tourism Police to enforce strict action against those that harass tourists
- The creation of an all-powerful “Tourism Council” consisting of proven leaders in the field
- Pay compensation – including airfare charges – to tourists who have been harassed
- Establish a “national guide training institute” that consists of high quality trainers
- Improve the overall sanitation facilities of national heritage sites, including Sigiriya
- Create an “online reservation system” for those who want to visit local attractions
- Create a mobile app with online links for people to learn about Sri Lanka and its various attractions
- Invite cab companies like PickMe and Uber to operate in all parts of the country, and to enforce the law strictly against those that attempt to use mafia style tactics