Lawlessness, crimes against tourists deterrent to increasing arrivals
View(s):Lawlessness in the country has a disturbing impact on tourism in Sri Lanka as the news of crimes committed on the tourists spreads in the world like wildfire through word of mouth and social media.
This was stated by Dr. Meitner Doering, Chairman, Aquarius Resorts Pvt Ltd and CEO, AGSEP Research at a media conference held on Tuesday at Galadari Hotel, Colombo.
A research report on ‘Promoting tourism in Sri Lanka and the obstacles faced by investors’ was released on this occasion. He gave some examples on the issue – a rape case in Mirissa and forcibly breaking a wall belonging to a hotel owned by him in Marawila.
He said that the experiences of crimes and harassments encountered by the tourists would be shared with the prospective tourists in their countries preventing them coming here. He said that the high handed action of the locals could be seen as police inaction.
He said that these crimes against tourists not only prevent tourist arrivals but also prevent much needed foreign investment coming to Sri Lanka as he indicated that when the Marawila incident took place there were some foreign investors in the hotel and they were horrified by the incident.
In preparing this survey report, Dr Doering said that around 1,000 travellers from around 60 countries were interviewed at the Bandaranaike International Airport during a period of three months, among them two age groups one between 21 and 30 and the other 51 to 60 years.
He said that in some European countries illegal emigrants result in an increase in the crimes in those countries and as a result old people after retirement are willing to come to countries like Sri Lanka to make their second home, according to the information indicated in the survey.
The survey suggested that more funds should be allocated to promote tourism as compared to Sri Lanka other countries are spending more on tourism. Vietnam, a country similar to Sri Lanka, has 10 million tourist arrivals and spends US$10 million on promotion whereas Sri Lanka, around 2.1 million arrivals, spends only $1 million on promotion. Further, it points out that Sri Lanka has an abundance of tourist attractions whereas these type of attractions are not found in Vietnam.
Quoting statistics the report indicated that compared to other popular Asian tourist destinations Sri Lanka is underperforming and noted that arrivals in Thailand is around 35 million, Malaysia 26 million, the Philippines 5 million and Laos 3 million.
Dr. Doering indicated that a country blessed with a beach area of 1,300 km, Sri Lanka does not have a single ‘Marina’ whereas a country like Croatia with only 650 km beach area has more than 50 Marinas. He said that with Chinese investment they are planning to put up a Marina in Marawila on a 4 acre block of beach land at $150 million investment, which would include two condos, 300 apartments and one boutique hotel with 200 rooms.
He also suggested that SriLankan Airlines, which only flies to London in Europe, should resume flights to other destinations in Europe.
(QP)