By Chandeepa Wettasinghe



Sri Lanka would have to overhaul its tourism promotion strategy to capitalize on the ever booming global cruise tourism industry enjoyed by high spenders by attracting the big names in cruise shipping, was the message that was delivered by a leading tourism sector academic who was visiting Sri Lanka recently at the behest of the Sri Lanka Conventions Bureau and the Australian College of Business and Technology.



Recent Trends
Cruise tourism has stood out—not just in the tourism industry, but in the business world as a whole—for thriving during, and after the global financial crisis in 2008.

“Cruise tourism is booming. Everyone wants to go cruising, but things are changing,” Edith Cowen University Tourism Professor Ross Dowling said.

He noted that cruising has moved away from the earlier popular conception of being exclusively for the elderly and the super rich, with an increasing number of young travellers also taking part, while the romantic aspect of cruise tourism has moved from just honeymooning to include weddings, engagements and reaffirmation ceremonies on board cruises.

Further, solo passengers, those with special needs, smoke-free ships, multi-generational cruising, children-free ships are also becoming popular, while health related undertones have also appeared.

“People are more concerned about fitness. Earlier, people would go on a cruise, eat a lot, and get down 3-5 kilogrammes heavier. Now it’s not so,” Prof. Dowling said.

He added that cruising—earlier considered to be an environment polluter—is becoming more eco friendly by, treating their waste and generating power responsibly, thereby attracting greener travellers.

He noted that cruising is a demand driven market instead of a supply driven market, meaning that cruise companies are playing catch up trying to build large enough ships in large enough quantities.

“Ships are being built to meet the demand. They don’t build ships and then say ‘Oh, how can we fill them?’ There are lots of new ships being built at the moment. They cost a lot of money. So, this is showing the commitment for the future of this niche within the tourism industry,” he said.

However, he expressed that the biggest trend in cruise tourism revolves around China, both in terms of Westerners wanting to cruise up and down the coast of China, and Chinese nationals wanting to cruise more.

It has also been highlighted that while the US and European market still accounts for 80 percent of the tourism market, increasing numbers of Japanese, , Australians, New Zealanders, Singaporeans and Malaysians too are starting to cruise.

Despite the rosy picture painted, cruise tourism has come under criticism for gambling operations and other nefarious activities conducted on board ships when they are sailing in international waters.

Meanwhile Prof. Dowling said that due to the changes in trends, the duration of cruising too is changing—from typical month long cruises to those lasting a week or two.



The potential for Sri Lanka
The discussion about cruise tourism has come in the backdrop of President Maithripala Sirisena telling the corporate world present at the Sri Lanka Economic Summit 2015 which concluded last week to increase the focus on maritime tourism.

“Coastal cruises are popular. Australia discovered 5 years ago, that there were no circumnavigations of Australia. Now, every major cruise line is circumnavigating Australia. So it’s a great opportunity for Sri Lanka,” Prof. Dowling said.

In Australia, cruise passengers spent over AUS$371 a day in average when calling on a port, while crew of cruise ships spent an average AUS$104 in the 2013-14 cruising season. This is then multiplied by the number of port calls in a country, with up to 6-7 port calls in Australia.

In Sri Lanka, a cruise tourist spends around US$100 per port call, and until recently, only Colombo was the port of call, which has now been expanded to include calls on Hambantota and Trincomalee.

Generally, cruise tourists spend less in a country compared to a normal tourist—who spends an average US$ 160 in Sri Lanka—as they have already spent on accommodation and food on board the ships.

Prof. Dowling said that to increase expenditure of cruise tourists in a country, the number of activities available must be diverse.

“Traditionally, Colombo has been seen as a transit port on the way to somewhere else. Cruise passengers spend a lot on souvenirs and tours. So build the infrastructure and excursions and get cruises to circumnavigate the island. Cruise tourists prefer destination shopping while on cruise, so if they like a country they will come back in the future,” he said.

He pointed out that river cruising too is becoming very popular, and that the current 1 hour boat rides for a dozen people which is being offered in Sri Lanka is not river cruising, which in actuality should be big ships for over 100 people navigating rivers for days.

“River cruising is also the fastest growing niche in cruising. Sri Lanka has many rivers, but I don’t know whether they are navigable. River cruising is growing in Europe, China, other parts of Asia and US. If you think cruise ship cruising is booming, river cruising is booming even more,” he stated.



What should Sri Lanka do?
Prof. Dowling criticized the current ‘8 experiences’ marketing strategy of the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotions Bureau and said to keep things simple to attract cruises.

 “You have a lot working for you; being authentic and genuine, being compact, and the diversity—both natural and cultural. The core products of what you call the ‘8 experiences’, they’re okay at a low level, but sell nature, culture and heritage. Keep it simple. People can understand that. People can’t understand all these various lists,” he said.

He noted that after building the infrastructure and training people, it is a matter of attracting the passengers and the big names in tourism by providing what they want, in terms of active and educational tours. Sri Lanka is currently limited to offering excursions around Colombo, to Pinnawala, Galle, Yala and around Trincomalee.

He suggested that Colombo should aim at becoming a turnaround port given its geographical location, but that it would not happen immediately.

“There are two types of ports folks. Transit ports where the cruise ship comes, visits the port for a day, and leaves and a turnaround port where a cruise ship comes, people get off and other people get on. That’s what you want, because that way, you get a lot of people coming. People getting off will stay a week or two in Sri Lanka. And the others will come a week before, have a look around and get on their cruise and leave,” he said.

Comparing the AUS$371 spent on a port call in Australia, turnaround visitors had spent AUS$756 a day before or after a cruise.

However, Prof. Dowling noted that with just 1.5 million overall tourists, it will take some time to become a turnaround port and to attract big shipping companies.

“To bring the volumes up, you must be known as a country that is –warm and friendly too, but—supply quality goods and services for international visitors. As you build up that reputation—2009 on, that’s not long, and it will build—word of mouth will travel rapidly. The sooner you get the supply side right, it’s just about numbers,” he said.

Prof. Dowling said that the big break for Sri Lanka will come if one of the biggest names in cruising, such as Carnival, Royal Caribbean or Norwegian will base one of its cruise ships in Sri Lanka to circumnavigate the country, much like what happened in Australia and China.

“Get to know as a must see destination. Then one cruise line, one ship; everything changes, everyone wants to follow,” he said.

He said that a cruise terminal is also needed—one which is currently under consideration by the Sri Lanka cabinet.

However, Prof. Dowling said not to depend on one type of tourism.

“Build tourism here first, and then along the way, cruise will follow. But don’t dismiss other sectors. Put equal efforts into the Tourism Promotions Bureau and SLTDA and build wildlife tourism, eco tourism, geo tourism and build others along with cruise tourism,” he said, and went on to say that this is because of possible unforeseen circumstances.

“Let me be the devil’s advocate here. We know terrorism is a threat. You know that more than any other nation. But look at the planes that have been targeted, the trains, the buses. What’s the other target? There’s only one other mode of transport; ships. So if a cruise ship is targeted, that’ll be the end of cruising for a while. So you don’t want to spend hundreds of millions of dollars building port infrastructure, training people, and then find that one act of terrorism threat has taken out—through no fault of your own—the entire industry completely,” he said.

In conclusion, he said that Sri Lanka must be highly focused in what it does and wants.

“Today Rohantha Athukorala (Tourism Promotions Bureau Chairman) was talking about high yield tourists. Who are high yield tourists? And what are they looking for? You need to be very clear on that. I can tell you who they are and what they’re looking for, but I’m presuming Sri Lanka has to do that for your own country. You’re up against countries that have put in a lot of money. Dubai created a cruise terminal out of nothing. China has got enormous amount of money to throw. So Sri Lanka has to be a lot more targeted and a lot more focused on what it does,” he said.