The Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA) last week presented the findings of several key surveys, designed to enhance information availability to the public and private sector and facilitate strategic decision making in the industry.
Once the fourth largest foreign exchange earner in the country, tourism dropped to sixth place in 2008 due to considerable declines in arrivals owing to the global economic crisis coupled with travel advisories in key markets on the security situation in Sri Lanka.
Currently, the largest foreign exchange earners are textiles and garments, foreign remittances, tea, transportation services and rubber based products followed by tourism.
At a presentation on the ‘Changing Patterns of Tourism’ organized by the SLTDA, the Director of Research and International Relations Malraj B. Kiriella said tourist arrivals in 2008 dropped by 11.2% to 438,475 from 494,008 the previous year. The best year for tourist arrivals was in 2004 at 566,000. The foreign exchange earnings decreased by 12.8% to US$319.5 million in 2008 from US$384.4 million in 2007. Employment generation in the tourism sector, direct and indirect, decreased by 14.3% in 2008 to 124,456.
Mr. Kiriella said Asia continued to be the largest source of tourism to Sri Lanka for the second consecutive year, accounting for 39.5% of total arrivals. However, there was a slight decrease in Asia’s relative share to the previous year. The other significant contributors to the total were Western Europe (38.1%), Eastern Europe (6.7%), North America (5.5%), Australasia (4.9%) and the Middle East (3.8%). India maintained its top position with the number of tourist arrivals at 85,238, accounting for 19.4% of the total traffic.
Survey on departing foreign tourists
The research division of the SLTDA conducted a survey of departing foreign tourists at the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) during September 2008 to February 2009 to obtain information on visitor profile, travel behaviour, expenditure patterns, opinions and impressions of tourists to ascertain their level of satisfaction. The total number of tourists surveyed was 3013 while a separate survey on 1433 transit passengers was also conducted. The population was broadly categorised into 11 market groups which included the UK, India, the Middle East, Germany, France, China, Japan, Russia, Benelux, Italy and Scandinavia.
Findings
The highest respondents in the sample were from the UK (33%) followed by India (24%) and Germany (15%). There was a greater number of male tourists (63%) than female tourists (37%) although India represented the highest imbalance between female-male ratios while female tourists outnumbered male tourists from Russia.
The highest number of tourists who visited Sri Lanka belonged to the ‘middle aged’ group of 40 to 49 years. By occupation, the highest proportion belonged to the upper and middle social classes out of which two thirds classified themselves as businessmen, professionals, executives, scientists, technicians and educationists.
A large majority of tourists (61%) were on their first visit to Sri Lanka. The highest proportion of first timers came from Russia (83%) followed by China (71%) and the Middle East (70%).
The survey determined that the main purpose of visits for nearly 81% of tourists was holidaying while around 13% came for business purposes. The overall duration of stay according to those surveyed was 10 nights.
India was the destination that most respondents said they visited before arriving to Sri Lanka while the Maldives was the most popular country the respondents said they would visit after leaving Sri Lanka.
The most visited Asian countries during the past five yearsaccording to the respondents was Thailand (32%) followed by Singapore (26%), India (24%) and Malaysia (22%).
The most popular places of attraction in Sri Lanka was Colombo (65%) followed by Kandy, the South/West coast beaches, Pinnawela Elephant Orphanage, Sigiriya, Dambulla and the Hill Country. Sight-seeing and excursions were the most popular activities for58% of the respondents. Yala National Park was the most visited national park at 57%.
Around 83% of those surveyed said they used hotels as accommodations while 7% had stayed at guest houses and rest houses. The overall rating of accommodation facilities was either good (47%) or excellent (26%). The overall rating of facilities and services at the airport was also either good (55%) or excellent (19%).
According to the survey, the average expenditure of respondents who had taken a package tour was US$974 while the average expenditure of non-package tours was US$906.
$8 bln, 1 mln jobs lost due to conflict
With the expected economic revival, tourism could adjust to become an year-long product with existing hotel capacity able to meet the traveller intake from India, China, the Middle East and the tradition European market, said Chandra Wickremasinghe, President, Sri Lanka Association of Inbound Tour Operators (SLAITO), speaking at a recent press conference in Colombo.
But he conceded that at present the tourism industry in Sri Lanka is running at only 40 % hotel occupancy capacity, even though it is now the fourth largest foreign exchange contributor to Sri Lanka’s GDP.
He said that the industry has suffered considerably during the last two decades and now they are able to add more value and impetus by positioning the tourism industry as a preferred destination. The loss to the tourism industry is incalculable, but he said rough estimates have revealed $8 billion and one million employment opportunities would have been lost to the country due to the conflict.
The Sri Lankan Association of Inbound Tour Operators was launched in 1975 as an Association of Group Travel Agents. It brings together a number of related associations involved in inbound tourism, including the Sri Lankan Institute of National Guide Lectrers, the Chauffeur Tourist Guide Tourist Association of Sri Lanka and the Association of Tourist Transport Operators. |
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