Jetwing chief recommends showcasing SL’s iconic resorts to lure high-end travellers

Hiran Cooray 

• Says despite economic slowdown in key source markets, global demand for luxury travel remains very strong
• Wants upcoming global communication campaign to showcase iconic resorts 

Tourism industry veteran and Jetwing Symphony PLC Chairman Hiran Cooray urged the authorities and industry stakeholders to ensure a strategy in place to target high yielding tourists in the proposed global communication campaign, by showcasing Sri Lanka’s iconic resorts along with the experiences. 
“Once a communication plan is set in motion, I urge the authorities and stakeholders in the industry to showcase Sri Lanka’s iconic resorts, along with the experiences, so that we have a strategy in place to yield more income per traveller, as opposed to flooding our destinations with tourists yielding minimum returns,” Cooray emphasised in the latest annual report of Jetwing Symphony PLC.
Even though Sri Lanka has both products and services to cater to the high-end travellers, he pointed out that the country has failed to draw the attention of such high-spending tourists, due to lack of awareness, which has resulted in lower demand for luxury accommodations, often leading to price wars. 
“While this is essential to draw people to the paradise island, the world has forgotten that we also have iconic hotels in Sri Lanka. As a result, a majority of those visiting Sri Lanka choose to stay in more affordable accommodation options; and the luxury hotels have been forced to constantly bring prices down, due to the lack of awareness and demand from target audiences,” he said.
He outlined those strategies and implementation is critical to draw more high yielding travellers, in order to boost the tourism earnings.
“We need to have strategies and implementation plans in place to attract more high-value travellers, both in terms of product and destination marketing as well as infrastructure development, especially at places of interest. If this is done proactively, we will not only draw more high yielding travellers but we will also build confidence within the industry to increase rates across the spectrum of accommodation available,

resulting in higher income to the country and its people,” he added.  
Despite the economic slowdown in key source markets, Cooray noted that global demand for luxury travel remains very strong, as these segments are largely unaffected by the short-term scenarios. 
As the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau is currently in the procurement process to launch the global communications campaign targeting nine key source markets, which is likely to come under a new tag line, Cooray remarked on the daunting task to get this campaign off the ground, given the past track record.
“Sri Lanka: the pearl of the Indian Ocean, a land like no other, small miracle, the wonder of Asia and So Sri Lanka. Over the years, many attempts have been made to launch a consistent marketing campaign to position the destination in key markets such as the United Kingdom, Germany, France and India. 
Sadly, these have never come to fruition and apart from one-off boosts, none of the campaigns have sustained for a significant amount of time and as a result, we have failed to position the country and its diverse offering to discerning travellers,” he said.