Sri Lanka tourist arrivals up by 7.0 percent in February 2019

Mar 10, Colombo: Sri Lanka's tourist arrivals rose 7.0 percent in February 2019 compared to the same period last year, the data released by the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA) showed.

The month recorded 252,033 tourists arriving in the country compared to the 235,618 arrived in February 2018.

India, United Kingdom, China, France and Germany were Sri Lanka's top five international tourist generating markets in the month of February this year.

India was the largest source of tourist traffic to Sri Lanka with 13% of the total traffic received in February 2019. United Kingdom accounted for 12% of the total traffic; while China, France and Germany accounted for 11%, 7% and 7% respectively.

Arrivals from North America rose 61.7 percent to 16,280 in February and the arrivals from US rose 61.7 percent to 9,678 during the month while arrivals from Canada increased 61.8 percent.

Tourist arrivals from Europe increased by 11.4 percent with the arrival of 135,934 tourists. Most of the tourists came from UK (29,750), followed by France (17,295), Germany (17,268), and Russian Federation (13,008).

Tourist arrivals from Middle East declined by 5.2 percent with the arrival of 3,691 visitors compared to the 3,894 arrived in February 2018.

Tourist arrivals from Asia & Pacific declined by 3.8 percent with 94,058 arriving in the island. Tourist arrivals from India declined by 1.9 percent with 32,286 visitors arriving while arrivals from China fell by 22.0 percent to record 28,039 arrivals.

Arrivals from Australia recorded 54.8 percent increase with 8,810 visitors entering the country in February 2019.

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Addressing the white elephant in Lankan economic development in tourism

In the past, Sri Lanka has focused on increasing the number of tourists coming into the country and showcased the

 increase in tourism without much concentration on the growth of our economy in retrospect. Lonely Planet listed Sri Lanka as the number one tourist destination for 2019 whilst Sri Lanka simultaneously boasted of 2.2 million tourists at the closure of 2018. None of these however focus on the economic growth brought in. To put it simply, there wasn’t much of economic prosperity as a majority of these tourists coming in were backpackers with a weekly spending budget of less than $ 500. The question however lies in why doesn’t Sri Lanka attract tourists with a higher spending power? 

A closer look at the issue

Upon closer inspection and analysis, it was concluded that Sri Lanka does not attract tourists with higher spending power who are willing to spend more than $ 300 per day. This is largely due to our country lacking the proper infrastructure to support this level of tourism and the free availability of ‘affordable’ resources as opposed to having more high-end facilities in the country.

Let’s take a step back and analyse this situation through the eye of a potential tourist. There are currently limited direct flights connecting large countries to Sri Lanka. Any potential visitor must predominantly select between Etihad, Qatar Airways or Emirates when flying to Sri Lanka from North America and Europe, resulting in sometimes lengthy transits before arriving at Bandaranaike International Airport. After a long flight, guests are then succumbed into a six-hour drive should they wish to visit the north of the country or another six-hour drive should they wish to visit the south. The lack of better roadways and alternate methods of travel in Sri Lanka leaves guests only the option of travelling on sub-par roads, adding exhaustion to a tiring journey.

Limited qualifying luxury villas and 5-star accommodations in Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka can currently accommodate guests in up to 4,200 five-star hotel rooms with a total staff count of 250,000 to serve these tourists, out of which only 250 rooms belong to luxury boutique villas and hotels that cater to clients on the higher spectrum of spending power.

Room rates in the Cultural Triangle, North, South and Central regions offer half-board accommodation at a rate of $ 90 (Rs. 16,167) per double room. Once taxes are deducted, the hotel is left with Rs. 12,442 from which once Rs. 3,200 is reduced for two breakfast and dinner meals, the hotel is ultimately left with only Rs. 9,242, which doesn’t provide much of a profit margin for a hotel and the industry to sustain profitably, much less allow the hotel to provide a great customer experience through constant innovation.

Looking ahead and getting proper infrastructure in place

To attract tourists with a higher purchasing power, Sri Lanka must not only grow in number of luxury hotels and villas, but also take an initiative to develop our infrastructure. For a tourist to visit the country, they must at times spend lengthy transit hours since we do not have a direct air carrier who flies directly from America and Europe to Sri Lanka. The many hours spent on transit coupled with the many hours spent travelling to various locations around the country from the airport isn’t attractive for potential tourists. 

Even though Sri Lanka’s road infrastructure is yet to reach groundbreaking heights, the Government has taken the right initiative through the Megapolis Ministry that aims on developing roads, railways and the landscape of the city by 2030 with a marina, a cruise centre, a waterfront promenade and housing for an estimate of two million people. 

In addition to roads, railways and the development of the megapolis, Sri Lanka must also look at alternative methods of domestic travel. Currently there are only a few providers offering domestic aircraft carriers, with two of them being large conglomerates in the country. However, these aircraft carriers can only accommodate eight passengers per flight and come at a very high cost making this an unattractive mode of domestic transport, despite the savings in time. 

For tourists looking to visit Sri Lanka and spend a vacation here in luxury, either basking in the misty hills or travelling in the north getting to know about part of our heritage or even enjoy the Southern sea, Sri Lanka’s level of infrastructure and support facilities aren’t attractive enough. Having to travel for six hours to reach the north or south after a tiring plane ride or having to charter an expensive domestic flight with limited travel availability due to their limited flying hours simply isn’t attractive enough to bring in tourists with higher spending power. To bring about economic growth through targeted tourism, it’s time Sri Lanka began developing our urban cities, infrastructure and value added services to attract the right clientele. 

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Sri Lankan tourism; all that glitters is not gold

Tourism in Sri Lanka was said to have reached an all-time high last year with a staggering 2.2 million tourists visiting the country. While news articles widely publicised this never before seen rate, little did anyone pay attention to return in investment and surge in local sales brought by these tourists. 

Most of the tourists visiting the country spend less than $ 500 a week – bringing very little income and indirect employment to our locals, which in turn does not contribute to our economy drastically. So what seems to be the issue here despite having a never before seen rate of tourists pour into Sri Lanka to enjoy our sandy beaches? Let’s dig a bit deeper into the issue. 

Digging deeper into the root cause

Whilst it’s important that Sri Lanka has a steady inflow of tourists, our legislative and other bodies do not pay attention to the type of tourists that visit the country. There has been a growing increase in budget hotels and other budget accommodations both in and out of Colombo, and this number only seems to be in the rising. Although the industry must cater to all levels of tourists, our tourism sector must pay special attention to bring down tourists with higher spending power as this is where the real sales and surge in our economy lies. 

In the past few years there has been a surge in many accommodations coming up in the North, Central Highlands, South and the Cultural Triangle of Sri Lanka. Almost 80% of these hotels have room rates below $ 90 for double half-board basis. Additionally, more and more hotels are coming up in these regions simply because owners find this lucrative market attractive and get into business either because they were advised by a friend or saw someone do well in the same trade. 

Diving headfirst into ventures without a proper plan

This isn’t healthy for hotels, banks and the Sri Lankan economy as there needs to be a substantial financial and business knowledge and planning put into a venture. The business will find it very hard in the long run to pay back their bank loans as it will take them between 10-12 years to breakeven whereas a hotel with a good business and financial model will breakeven between 5-7 years; simply because there was no solid financial plan at the inception therefore having a painful effect on the growth of the business. 

Tourists visiting Sri Lanka with lesser spending power, are not contributing to the growth of our economy. With a tourist spending less than $ 500 a week by cutting down on food, travel and any other possible expense whilst opting to stay at budget hotels, their actions are not helping indirect employment opportunities to grow. With foreigners choosing to either back-pack or choose low cost travel options like travelling by bus in town or train for long distances, they are not providing our local tuk tuk drivers and cab services indirect employment. 

Time for hotels to step up and improve their game

In addition to the majority of tourists Sri Lanka attracts, hotels too must take a step up and improve their services. Hotels can no longer rely on their restaurants and buffets to help make profits, as this accounts only up to 40% of the total sale. Hotels must focus on the remaining 60% that is the real value addition; accommodation services. However our fiscal standing doesn’t make higher priced hotel a beguiling destination for the cadre of tourists we attract. With 30% of a tax charged (with a breakdown of 10% Service Charge, 15% Value Added Tax &2% Nation Building Tax) in addition to the normal rates, tourists and locals alike are disheartened to yield a higher spending power. 

Corrective measures 

In order for Sri Lanka to attract the right kind of tourists which will in turn positively affect our economy and help our nation grow and provide our locals with direct and indirect employment, Sri Lanka must look into developing infrastructure and providing higher valued goods to attract the right level of clientele. Await to find out how Sri Lanka can facilitate an economic surge during our next publication. 

(The writer is an accountant by profession turned Head of Operations. He possesses over 29 years of expertise in the hospitality industry including 20 years of strong financial administration at five-star hotels. His expertise is spread throughout his various stints in various regions around the world including USA, The Caribbean, Middle East and Singapore as well as holding the position of an operation and commercial oriented Director of Finance, with a wealth of business experience. He is a highly result oriented professional, who believes in cohesive work environments and team work. He is now retired and consults professionally to a leading international consulting firm, whilst residing in his home in Colombo.)

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3 easy steps in online application form of srilanka online eta visa

 

Sri Lanka is an island and a beautiful country that is surrounded by the Indian Ocean. This should explain how many beaches would sit on every corner of this land. Being a coastal area, there is plenty of greenery which consists of coconut trees in most parts of the nation. This calms every soul that sets foot on its grounds. Moreover, when there is monsoon, the beaches give the best of their waves with fresh breezes that give serenity. This is the reason why this nation has always won hearts of travelers and stands in the top spot of best countries to visit during the September to December period. And on top of it, Visa requirements for Sri Lanka were never made so easy by us. We have a special team of experts in visa who will process the applications of Sri Lankan Visa after reviewing the possible errors made from the applicant’s side. Apply now and get visa in hours !

Pinnawela Elephant Wildlife Tour - Sri Lanka

In today's date Sri Lanka is only famous for its wild life sanctuaries. And which animal you will find more? Answer is elephant. Yes in all over the world Sri Lanka is only the place where large amount of elephants are found. For elephants Sri Lanka is home. Pinnawela, home to the largest herd of elephants in captivity. In Sri Lanka it is the only place where large amount of elephants are found. Earlier days different breed of elephants are found over here.  Day to day environment is changing so few breed elephants are found. This place became the most popular tourist's attraction of the country due to elephants. This place is 24 acre large and orphanage to many numbers of elephants. This is also a breeding place of this animal. For elephants only government has make airport and all types of tourist necessary services. If you visit Sri Lanka this year then don't forget to visit Pinnawela. Your children will enjoy this place more and you will know more about elephants. For Sri Lanka tourist visa information you can visit many online sites where you can find travel services to Pinnawela.
 

Some more information on Pinnawela:
 

During first half of the 18th century Pinnawela was an island with a population of 30,000 world's biggest mammals. And in 1960 the island was close to extinction and was rarely seen of any elephants. It was the time when Sri Lankan government decided to take serious action against saving these elephants. To save this rare animal's orphanage's life the country had lost their mothers or herds.
About 80 km northeast of Colombo, during this period Pinnawela decided to have this wild life sanctuary for elephants. 

Another Elephant Wild life sanctuary was also developed to attract both locals and cheap Sri Lanka flights takers among the green hills of Kegalle, 50 miles or 85km away from Colombo on the road to Kandy in the hill country. Although the main purpose of this sanctuary's establishment was to afford protect and care of many baby elephants found in the jungle without their mothers that were either killed by haunters or died due to bad environment. Now it is the greatest captivity of elephants in the world. All the tourists taking flights to Sri Lanka and must visit this place. Whatever the income from the tourists visits to this place is donated to help or maintain the orphanage. 

Tourists feel much pleasure here as animals are allowed to roam freely during the day time and a herd structure allowed forming.  Before visiting this place don’t forget to check the Sri Lanka visa status.