Sri Lanka’s tourist industry competeing with 14000 rooms, will have to increase the number up to 20,000 within the next six years. High construction cost is a major issue but banks are supportive, Chairman of PATA and Jetwing Hotels Hiran Cooray said at a seminar.
"With the dawn of peace in the country, the tourist industry is building up gradually and we will have to improve the tourist infrastructure, to cater to the new trends and needs in market, "Cooray said. He made these remarks at a seminar organized by the Council for Business with Britain (CBB) and the Hilton Colombo Residence on the topic of "Sri Lanka Tourism and Challenges"
The Eastern part of the country has a lot of potential for tourism, but unfortunately only one hotel has already commenced its construction work, while another hotel is likely to materialise in the future, which is absolutely insuffienct to attract tourism in those areas. Increase in the cost of construction has discouraged hoteliers to going for major hotel projects, he said.
Cooray said that "during the global recession, the tourist industry survived without any problem. People all over the world travelled even in the worst period especially during global upheavals or recession, which is now picking up well,"
To welcome more tourists into the country, existing hotels, which built during 1970s have to be re done with larger bathrooms, he said.
"With the picking up of the tourist industry, we have to look at various other facets of marketing to cater to different needs. One sector is the silver market, which comprises the disabled tourists who have substantial money for travelling. But unfortunately most our hotels do not have facilities to attract that market segment, he said.
Cooray also said that changes in family structure especially in Europe is significant, therefore many independent travellers have come into play, which is now an important market to focus at this juncture. A lot of families travelled without the mothers and this is a growing European market, which needs to be catered to, he said.
Sri Lanka has a lot to offer beyond beaches, which has plenty of wild life parks, mountains and cultural sites. But unfortunately especially cultural sites like Sigriya and Anuradhapura don’t have enough restaurants, spas close to those sites due to Government’s restrictions for opening such things close to religious places, he said.
Cooray also said that Sri Lanka was blessed with unspoiled virgin beaches. The most important thing is that we have to keep our country green to promote sustainable tourist industry in the future.
Since all South Asian markets including India Nepal, Pakistan are growing at an alarming pace we need to better market our products to attract more tourists into the country, he said.
source - www.island.lk
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