We must learn to survive - Hiran Cooray

• There was a need for change  
• Tourism had to sacrifice a bit  
• Most people remained silent before protests  
• We just take things for granted  
• Governments must be more accountable 
• Tourism has literally come to nothing
• Not fair for us to ask for handouts

The tourism industry was one of the biggest foreign exchange earners in Sri Lanka. However, since the Easter Sunday attacks in 2019 and later COVID, the political crisis and the protests, Sri Lanka saw a drastic drop in tourism in Sri Lanka.  Daily Mirror spoke to veteran tourism industry expert and member of the recently appointed Tourist Advisory Committee, Hiran Cooray about the state of the tourism industry in Sri Lanka and the way forward.  

Excerpts of the interview:  

Q  How serious is the situation with the tourism industry in Sri Lanka?

We went through probably the worst ever time that we went through after COVID. Because even after the Easter Sunday attacks, there was a lot of international support for us to get out of the crisis sooner than we expected. A lot of the analysts said it will take probably 1 to 2 years for us to recover. But because of the international support we got, within six months, we were back on track. And so, we had very good months of December, January, February of 2020, December 2019 and January 2020 and February. Then, of course, COVID came with all the international borders closed. That probably was the worst ever time that tourism, not only Sri Lanka but globally faced. So, our income literally went to zero. So, then we survived because the government gave us a moratorium. We did not have to service the loans. And many really had to pull out from their savings or whatever and keep the plant operational.   

Then when we were just recovering from COVID comes this, which I’m very sad that we came to this position because none of us, not only in tourism, in other sectors as well, maybe garments, maybe other industries, professionals, the doctors, the engineers, never spoke of this crisis. Maybe some of you in the media, the professional journalists alerted the public, but even that was not taken seriously. So, we, like a little crab in a boiling pot,were swimming.   

Q  So, you knew there was a crisis but just didn’t speak up

Yes. Nobody really spoke up. So suddenly it hit us. It hit us because the ordinary people, the women, the children, ordinary citizens of this country came on to the streets saying enough is enough. So we all got some life back in. But the tourism industry has suffered. And the burning of buildings, houses, the international community looking at it wont realise this is a targeted building. They think that this is happening everywhere.  

Q  And that is something that even the authorities then kept saying. That this is not the entire country. Tourism is not going to be affected. They called it isolated incidents.

But when it goes in the international media it goes as Sri Lanka is burning. Sri Lanka has no government, no proper government. So, this is what went out into the world. And then most of the embassies in Colombo slapped a travel advisory. And again, tourism has literally come to nothing. So,at the moment we are back again trying to bring us out of the mess. Once again, we always think this is the last time we are in a mess like we did after the Easter Sunday bombings. Look what worse can happen and more worse things happened after COVID. We are finally we are out of COVID. We are getting out of it. And now this happened. So this our life. We can’t give up tourism. Tourism is an industry that will contribute a lot to our country to get us out of the balance of payments issues that we are facing at the moment. We need tourism and we have to be committed to move this industry forward.  

Q  Have successive governments really supported the industry the way they should? There were concerns even in 2019 after the Easter Sunday attacks. You spoke about moratorium. But small hotel operators were saying that they were not getting the same support from the authorities back then. Even during COVID, there was this allegation. Even now some people say the same thing as well. 

Well tourism is a low hanging fruit. It can take off very easily and it can be wiped out also very easily. Some governments take tourism very seriously. Some don’t. At the moment, it’s a headache for them. This industry now has become a headache because there’s so much of investment, so many people dependent on it. Close to two and one half million people depend on tourism. There is also another point. We have also heard some people saying we haven’t got anything, we haven’t received anything. There’s a formal sector and the informal sector. So what I’d like to see is those who are in the informal sector come into the formal sector. That means if you have a house which you are renting to tourists, establish yourself, come and register yourself with the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority, local producers. So then you are part of the establishment. You benefit from tourism, but you don’t pay your dues. And then when something happens, you come in and say, we didn’t get anything. If those who are in the established sector haven’t got anything, then they need to come out and speak to the authorities and see what has happened. Maybe the associations, because from what I know, most of the association members have received the moratoriums.Its also not fair for us to ask for handouts. Because we have been in business, we have made money in the past through this sector.   

Q  The Government has also made a lot of money out of this industry.

Yes, that’s right. They have. Some of the money has been used properly, some not properly. But that’s, again, our fault for not checking on public accounts. We just take things for granted. Up to now, most people in this country have just taken things for granted. So hopefully in the future, you know, governments will be more accountable with how they spend the money not only from tourism but other sectors, as well.  

Q  There were also concerns about the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority. That they were favouring certain hotels, certain people, and that they were not looking at the industry as a whole.

Unfortunately, yes. That should not have happened. We had a time during the COVID crisis and so on. The industry should have been brought together. That’s how we got out of situations in the past. We had the airport bombings in 2001. We had the central bank bombing in 1996, And then we had the tsunami in 2004. When that happened, the travel associations, the hotels association, the inbound travel agents, the outbound travel agents, everybody was sitting in the tourist board and discussing what do we do? How do we get out of this situation.But that unity sadly didn’t happen. So I sincerely hope that won’t happen in the future, because tourism is an industry that is bound to face difficulties. If somebody starts sneezing in Europe, we get pneumonia. So therefore we have to work together with the public and the private sector. But there will be always difficulties because the private sector will demand something. The government will have a different objective. But be that as it may, people have to come together and sort out those differences and work. So that did not happen. Hopefully it won’t happen in the future.  

Q  You were also part of the Sri Lanka Tourism Advisory Committee during the previous administration. What were you working on at that time? 

Well, the main focus at that time during Minister Prasanna Ranatunga’s period was to get out of the immediate crisis that was COVID. How do we get out? How do we open the country? How do you welcome tourists once again? Because if you don’t do that, then everything else is of no use. Just keeping the industry alive with no hope in the future. That was not so. The focus of the ministry at that time was let’s get the country open. Let’s welcome tourists, let’s let the people get their jobs back, all of that. So that happened to a certain extent from January 2021, December 2020 to January 21, we were able to slowly but surely, you know, get some of the real strict restrictions relaxed a bit and get people coming once again.  

Q  Do you feel that the protests that we saw in the country not only brought attention on some of these key issues we faced but also added further to the crisis that Sri Lanka was facing?

Probably it did. We were in a crisis and then that crisis went international with the protests, I think that probably happened. And that sadly impacted tourism. But I think I have to say country must come first. As a Sri Lankan, as a citizen of this country who loves this country, country has to come first. So, there was a need for a change and a sector had to sacrifice a bit.  

Q  It’s a big sacrifice.

Yeah, it’s quite a big sacrifice. But still, I mean, you think of the farmers.If there is no water, farmers will lose out. If it is too much water also the farmers will lose out. So therefore we can’t always be expecting perfect situations all the time. We also must learn to swim. If you are a swimmer, you must be able to swim in calm waters and rough waters as well. Right now we are swimming in rough waters and we must learn to survive.  

Q  But do you see a light at the end of the tunnel?

Definitely. I always see light at the end of the tunnel because that’s my nature as well. I can’t see any darkness any time. That’s because of my faith in God. I can’t think otherwise. But be that as it may, there is now a necessity for all Sri Lankans to think, get out of this balance of payments crisis we are in.And in order to do that, we have to earn more foreign exchange. Obviously, tourism is one of those sectors that can bring foreign currency into the country. And I appeal, given this opportunity, that everyone who is in tourism to bring their money into this country. Never keep 5 cents outside because it’s our responsibility. Then the other is we have to also learn to serve our customers with Sri Lankan products, Sri Lankan food, not be hellbent on serving anything that is foreign. You know, believe me, no tourist comes for two weeks to this country to eat oranges, apples, grapes. No one comes to eat a salmon from Norway or Scotland or Alaska. Right. They are coming to eat tropical fruit, tropical seafood and all of that. So therefore, we must have that confidence now to serve our foreign customers with Sri Lankan fusion food. You know, that is an experience in itself. So we have to have that confidence. So we save in foreign currency as well while we earn. We must learn to save. If we have an opportunity to use public transportation. We must learn to do that because, you know, $600 million is what we pay a month for petrol and diesel. And that money has to be used for, you know, the services, the power we get, energy we get, right. So therefore, we have to be responsible to get out of this situation. No politician can get us out of this situation. They will always play games and they will keep us entertained. Watching news is an entertainment. In some ways. It depresses me. So I don’t watch. But for some people it is entertainment because they are howling at each other. Right. But what are they doing? They’re fooling us, right? So we have a responsibility.   

Q  Do you have faith in the current administration? 

I have no political interest, but I don’t have too much faith in anybody. I think we must take that faith out of the few people who are in parliament and get that faith into ourselves. There are 22 million people here and that 22 million people must have faith in themselves and in our country and build it. You can’t blame the current president or the former president or whoever it is, because we expect them to deliver. They cannot. They simply cannot. We the people must deliver and make sure they also play accordingly. Not entertain us all the time. Because they represent us.   

Q  You have set up a number of hotels around the country. Did you foresee something like this happening? This sort of crisis, ever?

Never. Never. I feel very sad and embarrassed that this has happened to our country. I have no words to describe it. I can’t believe that we are in this situation for such a beautiful country. I have travelled to maybe 100 countries in the world. I can’t think of a better country than this to live.  

Q  Will this stop your expansion?

To a certain extent, sadly, yes, because we are just barely surviving at the moment. Our priority at the moment is to look after the 3200 people who are directly working with us and so many others who supply food and other items to us. They are seriously dependent on us. Then we have to finally service the banks. We cannot forget the banks at this point in time. They have helped us as well to expand. They have lent money to us and we have to pay that back. So I cant think of doing new hotels until we actually look after those who have looked after us. After that, hopefully in 3 to 5 years time, if things settle down and we are back on the road again properly we will add new experiences, new things, all of that for sure.