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Tourism industry: The need to address key issues

14 Aug 2022

By Vinu Opanayake  Sri Lanka’s once-prosperous, billion-dollar tourism industry is today struggling to attract even half the numbers it saw four years ago. The tourism industry has been suffering from successive crises since April 2019, when extremists carried out the Easter Sunday bombings in Sri Lanka. Former Tourism Head’s recommendations The immediate past Chairperson of the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA) Kimarli Fernando recently posted recommendations on social media to sort out the issues in the tourism sector. The Sunday Morning spoke to Fernando on the issues she listed and to determine how those solutions could be implemented amidst the current chaos.  Fernando said that given the constraints Sri Lanka Tourism was facing at the moment, running mobile petrol stations and attempting to establish new fuel stations for tourism may not be the best solution, adding that focusing on practical issues that could be implemented right away would be ideal.  She added that the Minister of Tourism and tourism leadership needed to focus on providing basics such as fuel for the industry and emphasised the importance of reassuring international travellers and governments that Sri Lanka was safe and open and travellers would be taken care of despite some inconveniences. According to Fernando, international airlines have reduced flights due to the challenges they faced, which include jet fuel issues, the inability to repatriate their funds, ground handling fees being higher than regional competitors, service quality, and turnaround times and highlighted the need for codeshare agreements with major airlines, such as US and EU airlines, with large purchasing power, especially with winter approaching and the rise of budget airlines. “Banks should issue a debit card for fuel purchases if dollars are deposited to the account of the registered stakeholders’ bank accounts. This will also ensure that dollars actually enter the local banking system,” she stated.  According to Fernando, once tourism stakeholders are provided adequate fuel, Sri Lanka Tourism should work in collaboration with Online Travel Agents (OTAs) such as Booking.com, Airbnb, Expedia, Agoda, Travelocity, Priceline, and Hostelworld, which will support SME stakeholders and ensure that benefits trickle down. “The initial discussions were held in the past two years through Covid-19. Though some influential stakeholders may object to this, as their main focus is on attending trade shows, OTAs are here to stay. They are key partners and the impact OTAs have had on global travel and hospitality is immense. We need to work closely with them and negotiate the commission. While very few hotels have built their own brands benefiting from direct bookings, most have not, and hence we could leverage OTAs which have invested heavily,” Fernando explained.  She added that the Minister of Tourism and tourism leadership needed to focus on supporting stakeholders to build a sustainable industry. “Stakeholders should be permitted to import electric vehicles with dollar earnings deposited in banks, subject to having solar or wind energy to charge the vehicle,” Fernando said, outlining another potential proposal from her to the industry.  SLTDA stance Meanwhile, present SLTDA Chairperson Priantha Fernando told The Sunday Morning that the jet fuel issue had been sorted and with the refinery commencing operations, jet fuel and kerosene would be generated and made available.  “We are getting the first shipment to get the refinery operating. We have been coordinating with the Civil Aviation Authority of Sri Lanka (CAASL) and Airport and Aviation Services of Sri Lanka (AASL) and it is being looked into. If someone has dollars and if they can import their jet fuel directly, permission is given for that as well. This has been addressed a few weeks ago. Of course, we had issues when there was no fuel available and even SriLankan Airlines was getting fuel from India,” Fernando explained.  In terms of getting airlines back on board, he stated that there was an ongoing discussion with the airlines and added that now, for airlines to commence operations, there had to be a load factor.  “With the current situation in the country, despite travel advisories and warnings, we have been able to generate almost 50,000 arrivals for a month. This is amidst all the negativities for tourism. If the demand is there, all these airlines will come in. Even the budget airlines will commence operations once the situation gets better. Some budget airlines are discussing with the CAASL for permission to land in Ratmalana, where the landing fee will be reduced. The benefits are much greater. There are discussions going on at ministerial level and at our level,” the SLTDA Chair explained.  He added that getting the airlines to increase capacity would not be a problem if demand was created, which could be done if the ground conditions were conducive for tourism.   “We had a meeting with the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC), where it agreed to give us 10 licences to import and have our own distribution points set up for tourism. We will have 10 locations to distribute fuel islandwide. It will be in place and ready before the upcoming season.” He further noted that the Ministry of Power and Energy was looking at issuing a fuel card at the airport, which could be purchased for dollars. “Visitors coming in can purchase fuel cards in consultation with their agents. Petrol stations will have dedicated pumps, so they do not have to stay in queues. Conditions are improving and this is good for tourism as well.” THASL views Meanwhile, The Hotels Association of Sri Lanka (THASL) President M. Shanthikumar told The Sunday Morning that the former Chairperson and the new management of Sri Lanka Tourism may differ in their views.  “She might have her own ideas and thoughts and the new management of Sri Lanka Tourism might have their own thoughts and ideas and we may not have to worry about what her ideas are. We will have to do what the new authorities want. All her comments are being addressed by the new regulators and the issues are not something new. They will be addressed along with industry stakeholders. The new authorities are in touch with us and are addressing the issues,” he stated.   SLAITO response Meanwhile, the Sri Lanka Association of Inbound Tour Operators (SLAITO) stated: “We in the industry are happy with how the present Chairman and tourism officials are handling the current situation faced by the industry. We work very closely together for the revival and development of the industry and have been finding solutions to those key issues pointed out by the former Chairperson, which is common knowledge anyway. Therefore, we don’t wish to comment on the key issues or otherwise as we are working on solutions rather than harping on about the issues.”  


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