Tourism in Sri Lanka is expected to boom in 2023, with authorities already revising expected numbers to at least two million by the end of the year while hoping to develop new sectors such as marine tourism.
Increasing numbers
In January this year, 102,545 tourists arrived in the country – an increase from 82,327 tourists in January 2022. In February, 107,639 tourists visited the country, up from 96,507 in the same month last year. In the first week of March, 24,363 tourists have already arrived.
“We had targeted 1,550,000 arrivals for this year but we are confident we will be able to surpass this figure and reach about two million arrivals. Up to date, we have done about $ 330 million worth of tourism, which is an average of about $ 175 per day per tourist. We are looking to increase this to about $ 225,” Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA) Chairman Priantha Fernando told The Sunday Morning.
The increase in tourism is due to persistent campaigning and lobbying by the SLTDA and other tourism authorities to attract and facilitate the arrival of more tourists.
Market breakdown
Fernando noted that the two markets doing extremely well at present were Russia and India, while Chinese arrivals were expected to increase in the coming weeks.
“China has opened up, so the country should produce numbers in time to come – maybe by about next month the numbers will pick up. In Europe, apart from the UK, Germany, and France, there’s potential in the Scandinavian markets and Spain, Poland, Switzerland, and Belgium are also markets we are concentrating on.
“If we look at the contribution or the market price breakdown, Russia contributes about 26%, India about 13%, and the European countries combined contribute about 32%. The best performers are the UK and Germany – about 8% each – and France with about 6%. The European markets contribute about 32% in total while Australia has been contributing about 4%.”
However, he noted that the Government had expected the Indian market to perform better and pointed to the negative image of Sri Lanka as the cause for the poor performance. “One market where we feel justice hasn’t been done is India. Our expectations haven’t been met due to the negative publicity Sri Lanka has been receiving. We had about 234,000 arrivals until 6 March, of which 13% was from India. However, we expected a contribution of about 18-20%.”
Ongoing travel advisories hinder growth
While noting that risk factors had reduced when compared to six months ago, Fernando said that ongoing travel advisories were hindering the growth of the tourism sector in Sri Lanka.
“There aren’t too many risk factors right now, compared to four or five months ago. Earlier, it was because of the travel warnings. However, we are not too happy with the travel advisories which are out in countries such as Germany. We feel that they could be softened a little more as we cannot agree with some of the things stated in them and we feel they don’t do justice to the country. We have taken these up and appealed to the authorities to reconsider.”
Further, he revealed that an industry delegation taking part in the Internationale Tourismus-Börse Berlin (ITB) – the world’s largest trade fair – was actively lobbying to have the travel advisories removed or reduced.
“With the ITB happening in Germany, the Minister is there with a strong travel delegation of about 35 people who will be lobbying and I’m sure the restrictions will be removed. Although the travel advisories have softened, having such restrictions will instil a kind of fear in the travellers from Germany.
“Despite this, there has been an increase in tourists from Germany and the UK in comparison to the past few months. Therefore, one can see that tourists are taking a balanced view, taking into account what is shown in the media and not just considering the advisories.”
Wellness tourism on the rise
Fernando further noted that new markets such as South Korea were also being targeted with sectors like wellness tourism.
“Markets such as South Korea and Japan are expected to contribute much more. There are certain products to be developed to cater to them. For example, once wellness tourism is developed further, the demand from Japan will arise. The pilgrimage tour from Japan and South Korea – the Buddhist trail – will also bring in the senior citizens, who will spend a longer period of time at the destination. Those are the markets we have to move into.”
He pointed out that additional flights to certain markets were likely needed to facilitate the increase in tourist arrivals from those countries.
“The other bottleneck is not just creating demand, as we also have to be able to ferry them across; the seat capacity from generating these markets into Sri Lanka is a matter of concern as we have to increase the number of flights. For example, most of the flights from Europe come through Male and out of the European originating points, there are load factors of almost 88-90%, but the load factors from Male to Colombo are about 50-55%, so the bulk is being transported to Male.”
Marine tourism to be developed
Fernando then revealed that marine tourism was the newest sector in Sri Lanka that was to be developed and that it would be done with the utmost care to avoid any form of environmental pollution.
“Marine tourism has been planned for this year. In the Budget, the President allocated some funds for the development of the east coast, southern coast, and the north western coast. These funds are not sufficient, so we are having discussions with the Asian Development Bank (ADB), which will assist us to develop a marine tourism master plan.
“It has to be well managed and developed on a sustainable platform as it is capable of causing harm to marine life by generating pollution. We will be seeking assistance from an expert on the subject to develop the master plan and the development will happen according to the plan.”
He said that marine tourism would include underwater activities such as diving and added that a number of shipwrecks could be turned into tourism hotspots.
“There are underwater activities such as diving, whale watching, and dolphin watching. There are also about 150 shipwrecks around the country and about 10 yachts available to tour around the island. These are the products that will keep tourists in the country for a longer period of time. While they’re at sea, they will be on yachts and then they will go on inland excursions, so it is necessary to develop the marinas around the country. Places such as Delft Island, Jaffna, and Kalpitiya will also be further developed.”
Digital campaign to be launched
Meanwhile, the Sri Lanka Association of Inbound Tour Operators (SLAITO) too said that it was working together with the Government to develop the industry.
“There is a fairly big attendance of tour operators at ITB and we are supporting the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau’s plan of a new digital campaign, targeting around seven to eight countries. It will be rolled out in May, just in time for the winter market. The campaign is being rolled out in markets that are just opening up, such as China and the Middle East,” SLAITO President Nishad Wijetunga said.
He pointed out that the digital campaign, which would be launched soon, would target the winter season in the hopes that Sri Lanka would attract even higher numbers by the end of the year.
“All our tourism products are sought after and we have clients coming in for most of them like wellness, wildlife, and beaches. Even the digital campaign that is to be launched will cover all aspects of tourism offered by Sri Lanka. The advantage of this campaign being rolled out in May is that it will attract the winter tourists since the winter booking season is between June and September, although winter begins in November. This campaign is intended to help with that.”
The Morning
