With relative normalcy returning to the country, the light at the end of the tourism tunnel seems to be getting just a little brighter.
As Sri Lanka tourism tries to break its shackles and tries to woo visitors back, it has to vie with many other Asian destinations, also trying to get their hands on the pie. This analysis suggests that sustainable tourism is the way forward for Sri Lanka to promote the destination in a competitive manner.
Sri Lanka tourism today
Arrivals dropped to very low levels, due to the ongoing economic and political crisis.
This new crisis that hit tourism however is not a security issue unlike before. It is a national economic problem, with the non-availability of essentials such as food, fuel, gas, medicines, etc. that was disrupting everything. Hotel operations were immensely difficult to sustain and the quality of product and service offering was also deteriorating.
All this was only causing inconvenience to tourists. There are absolutely no issues with security. Actually, the few tourists, who are around, only felt sorry for Sri Lankans but enjoyed their holidays all the same.
So, with the relative easing of some of the ground issues such as the availability of fuel and gas supplies, most of the concerns that the visitors had about Sri Lanka are now fast diminishing. Many adverse travel advisories by countries have also now been relaxed. Consequently, occupancies in most hotels are showing a marked upward trend. Up to July this year, the arrivals have reached almost 459,000, up from 194,495 last year at this time. With strong interest and new bookings filtering in, it is expected that the winter 2022 season will be reasonably good for Sri Lanka and it is estimated that we will reach about one million visitors by the end of the year.
Impact of COVID on travellers
The long-drawn-out lockdowns and restrictions on travel took a heavy toll among most people around the world. Some of these impacts are:
- Social isolation
- Mental distress depression
- Anxiety through lockdown
- Changes in feelings and lifestyle
- Reduced physical activity
- Unhealthy eating habits
- Inadequate sleep quality
- Feeling of loneliness
- Family lifestyle affected
- Psychological distress
- Unstable financial circumstances
- School closures and suspended educational services.
So, as the restrictions on travel ease up, there is a pent-up demand for people yearning to travel. However, these long periods of isolation and stress have forced people to reflect on the environment and the degradation we ourselves have caused to our planet. There seems to be a greater awareness of the need to safeguard nature and the environment now.
Hence, in general, travellers seem to be now primarily looking for relief from stress but at the same time, having greater concern about protecting the environment while travelling.
Thus, the emerging post-COVID travel trends are:
- Adventure travel – outdoors
- Nature travel – letting nature heal your soul
- Experiential travel – immersive and participating
- Authenticity – real thing
- Customised travel – tailor-made
- More responsible travel – creating a positive impact on local communities
Sustainable tourism
Sustainable tourism is “Tourism that takes full account of its current and future economic, social and environmental impacts, addressing the needs of visitors, the industry, the environment and host communities.”- UNEP and UNWTO.
In a simpler format, it is tourism that not only takes care of its business but also endeavours to safeguard and develop nature, environment and communities simultaneously.
It is seen quite clearly that proper sustainable tourism practices will be able to deliver on the needs of the future traveller.
Hence, it is quite evident that in general, destinations that embracing sustainable tourism will be able to meet the needs of the emerging (post-COVID) trends of travellers.
Sri Lanka as a sustainable destination
In this context, it may be worthwhile to take pause and do a quick ‘audit check’ on Sri Lanka’s tourism attributes and sustainability.
Nature and environment Wildlife
- One of 34 biodiversity hot spots in the world (ref Conservation.org)
- 1,340 kilometres of coastline
- Home to largest animal that ever lived on earth – whales
- Home to largest land animal in the world – Sri Lankan elephant
- Home to world’s smallest animal – pigmy shrew
- Home to ‘Big Four’ of Asia
- Possibly largest leopard density in the world – Yala National Park
- Sixth greatest world wildlife attraction – annual gathering of elephants in north-central Sri Lanka (Lonely Planet)
Protected areas
- One of few primary tropical rainforests in the world – Sinharaja forest
- Twenty-six national parks
(protected areas)
- Six world Ramsar-certified wetland sites
- Four UNESCO man and biosphere reserves culture
- More than 2,500 years old history
- Eight UNESCO World Heritage Site
- Third century Sigiriya rock fortress
- World famous cultural pageants (Kandy Perahera)
- Ancient monuments
Community
- Many MSMEs involved in activities
- Approximately 950 homestay units in the country registered with the SLTDA (2021)
- Estimated that some two million people’s livelihoods are in some way related with tourism.
Therefore, Sri Lanka certainly has all the attributes to be positioned as a sustainable tourism destination, possibly one of the most unique places on earth.
Way forward for Sri Lanka tourism?
Form the foregoing, it is clearly shown that the future travellers will definitely seek out more sustainable locations for their holidays.
Destinations that are more into sustainable tourism will be able to meet the needs of the emerging (post-COVID) travel trends of travellers. The wide range of tourism offerings in Sri Lanka was also discussed and it is obvious that Sri Lanka has all the attributes to be a top-class sustainable tourism destination.
Hence, it is no ‘rocket science’ to realise that we need to embark on an urgent programme to properly develop, position and market Sri Lanka as a sustainable tourism destination to fully capitalise on the future growth of tourism in the world.
