• Says South Asia has not done as well as Southeast Asia or Western Europe in drawing tourists
• Suggests making BIMSTEC a borderless tourist area
• Asserts need to go upmarket and charge more

President Ranil Wickremesinghe this week called for more collaborative efforts among the regional peers, so that South Asia can boost its tourism sector.

Pointing out that South Asia has not fared well in drawing international travellers as much as Southeast Asia or Western Europe, Wickremesinghe stressed the need for the regional players to look beyond merely uplifting domestic tourism.

“Are you going to rely solely on domestic tourism, when you can earn so much money and foreign exchange, more than what you target for, if you attract international travellers? In the next 10 years, the per capita income will increase; people will travel around and look for eco-friendly tourism. Why don’t we have it?” questioned Wickremesinghe.

He presented his comments while addressing the ‘Transcending Borders – Transforming Lives’ programme organised by the Indian Tourism Federation at the Bandaranaike International Memorial Conference Hall, Colombo, this week.

For the South Asian region to take the lead in this front, Wickremesinghe suggested making the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) area one borderless tourist area.

He added it is not just Sri Lankans travelling to India or Indians travelling to Bangladesh. It is about making South Asia one tourist area for anyone who wants to come from outside, as together, the region has so much to offer.

“Let’s all work towards it. Let’s think about it.

Maybe all of you here from the Sri Lankan industry and from India can learn something. There’s something we can learn from the Maldives and we can talk to Nepal. Let’s look at it and develop a thriving tourist industry – a place where millions of people visit our region, making it prosperous for the people in our countries,” said Wickremesinghe.

Further, Wickremesinghe stressed, as he has in the past, the need to target high-end tourism.

“Let’s go upmarket and charge more. It means our rural people will have a better income,” he said.