Sri Lanka revises down tourist arrivals target for this year; expects US$ 800mn as earnings

From left: Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau Chairman Chalaka Gajabahu, Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority  Chairman Priyantha Fernando, SLAITO President Nishad Wijetunga,  Minister of Tourism and Lands Harin Fernando,  SLAITO Outgoing President Thilak Weerasinghe, SLAITO Vice President Nalin Jayasundera and Sri Lanka Institute of Tourism & Hotel Management (SLITHM) Chairman Shirantha Peiris.  Pic by Kushan Pathiraja

• New short-term plan in place under new minister, SLTPB chief
• Targets 800, 000-850,000 tourists, down from original 1.3mn target
• SLTPB plans 3 road shows in Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore this month
• New minister calls for more proactive role from SriLankan to promote tourism

By Nishel Fernando 

With a fresh one-year tourism revival plan in place, Sri Lanka’s tourism authorities are now targeting 800,000-850,000 tourist arrivals and earnings of US$ 800 million for this year by focusing on key source markets through joint promotional efforts. “We have come up with a short-term plan leading up to March 2023, which is also broken down to three parts; short, medium and long-term. We estimate that we might be able to end this year with 800, 000-850,000 tourists, and anything above and beyond that will be bonus. We will be striving to achieve better results,” the newly appointed Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA), Chairman Priyantha Fernando told the Annual General Meeting of Sri Lanka Association of Inbound Tour Operators (SLAITO) held in Colombo on Friday. 

Prior to the social unrest and political crisis, which came took place from April this year, the country was targeting 1.3 million tourist arrivals. During the five-month period, tourist arrivals reached 378,521. But, tourist arrivals fell to the lowest point of the year in May with just 30,207 arrivals.

Fernando highlighted that communication remains crucial to achieving these targets due to the negative publicity given to the country in international media, which has unnecessarily escalated fears on safety in the minds of many prospective travellers to the Island nation. 

“I am confident that we can meet these targets with a slight stabilisation in the current environment,” he stressed.

Further, he revealed that SLTDA positively responded to 15 key points of the 17-point plan submitted by SLAITO to overcome the multiple crises.

Speaking at the occasion as the chief guest, the newly appointed Minister of Tourism Harin Fernando asserted that a number of changes are required to be made in order for the industry to face up to the multiple crisis with the support of industry stakeholders.

“There are so many changes we have to undertake. I will do to the best of my abilities to get this industry back at running as fast as possible, but it won’t be an easy task; it’s a herculean task unless you all extend your support,” he said.

Moving forward, he outlined that future destination promotion and marketing activities would be conducted more effectively with the maximum utilisation of in-house resources and partnering with other stakeholders.

The SLTPB has planned three road shows in Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore this month as an immediate promotion. 

“We wanted to go for a road show in India, it won’t be a flamboyant roadshow, it will be a pleading roadshow to get Indian tourists start coming back to Sri Lanka,” he said.

Further, tourism authorities are also collaboratively working on a joint promotion campaign.

Fernando noted that many airlines have already come forward with their proposals to jointly promote the destination, although, the national carrier, SriLankan Airlines is yet to come up with such a proposal.

The Minister stressed that SriLankan Airlines must play a proactive role in promoting the destination similar to national carriers in other countries.

“I believe SriLankan Airlines needs to do much more in promoting our destination,”he said.