Sri Lanka Tourism Problems and Development

Sri Lanka touristry Problems and Development1. Sri Lanka is an island country and god has given to Sri Lanka blessings of nature blue seas, green hills, sandy beaches, abundant wildlife, cascading waterfalls, a rioting of flowers and fruits, coconut groves, tea estates, spice gardens. Here ones day arse be gloriously lazy by a palm cool lagune or full of joy, swimming, snorkeling, and fishing or sailing like a brilliant jewel in the sparkling waters of the Indian Ocean. Sri Lanka is rigid in a strategically con stancered naval spot on the populace map. This significant situation lay downs a path for a major sea route. In addition it creates a strategic naval link between West Asia, Africa and tocopherol Asia. Sri Lanka entered the internationalist tourerry bena in the 1960s. Since then, administration involvement has been the recognize factor in touristry get under ones skinment in Sri Lanka. The Ceylon Tourist Board (CTB) was established in 1966 in order to put f orward direction and leadership to this promising field of the developing scrimping. The country is notable for healthy and ethnical heritage. Hospitality, equatorial forests, inbred and fascinating beaches, archeological sites and the tropical climate atomic number 18 the more attractive features. These factors make Sri Lanka a fantastic holidaymaker name and address. Over the long time touristry in Sri Lanka has developed significantly. instanter tourism has become the ordinal Foreign Exchange Earner (FEE) in Sri Lankan economy.2. Tourism can make a great impact on ontogeny of the Sri Lankan economy. Tourism is a fast growing manufacture which has been identify playly. Employment opportunities and regional exploitation are playing significant parting with regard to the tourism sedulousness evolution. It can be considered as the around important application in the country as a hearty. The governments great deal is to make the tourism heavens as Sri Lankas most forward-looking and bankable income generating source.3. During past three decades Sri Lankas tourism labor had few cat backs. This was mainly due to the security situation which prevailed in the country. Further the tourism attention was to a fault touch due to the Tsunami catastrophe which occurred in 2004. Approximately 2/3rd of the coastal area including tourist understructure facilities was destroyed. The immediate grade war breaker point gave rise to a dramatic incr simplicity of tourist arrival from end May 2009.4. In order to support the efforts and to develop the tourism sector in Sri Lanka there should be hotels with exclusive facilities which are in par with the international standards to accommodate a large fleck of maunderors. In the year 2010 approximately one million tourists visited Sri Lanka. Unlike in the past, the inflow of tourists is increasing day by day as a pass on of the end of the 30 year courtly war which destroys the whole country. Foll owing represent indicates how tourism change magnitude from 1966 to 2011 in Sri Lanka. The government is anticipate to receive 2.5 million tourists in 2016. To cater for this addition tourist hotels in Sri Lanka must be developed. Similarly different facilities should also be additiond to meet the desired economic goals.AIM5. The aim of this paper is to essay the discipline of Sri Lanka tourism -challenges and opportunitiesGEOGRAPHY AND CLIMATE OF SRI LANKA6. Sir Lanka has a various ter rain down however it mainly consists of flat lands but south- central portion of the countrys step sided river, canyons privileged features and mountain. The compliment regions are the areas where most of Sri Lankas agriculture takes place, aside from coconut farms on the coast. Sri Lankas climate is tropical and the southwestern side of the island is the wet test. . The northeastern side of Sri Lanka is drier and most of its rain falls from December to February. Most of the rain in the s outhwest falls from April to June and October to November Sri Lankas average y beforehand(predicate) temperature is 86F to 91F. An important geographic note active Sri Lanka is its position in the Indian Ocean, which made it vulnerable to one of the realitys largest natural disasters. On December, 26, 2004, it was strike by large tsunami that hit 12 Asiatic countries. slightly 38,000 spate in Sri Lanka were killed during this incident and much of Sri Lankas coast was destroyed.7. Sri Lanka is situated in strategic location near major Indian Ocean sea lanes. It has a total area of 65,610 km, with 64,740 km of land and 870 km of water. Its coastline is 1,340 km long. Sri Lankas climate includes tropical monsoons the southwest monsoon (June to October) and the northeast monsoon (December to March), its terrain is mostly low, flat to undulating plain, with mountains in the south-central interior. The broad(prenominal)est point is Pidurutalagala at 2,524.13 m. Resource include lim estone, mineral sands, gems, graphite, phosphates, clay, and hydropower.8. Adams Bridge, a land connection to the Indian mainland, is now mostly underwater with that a chain of limestone shoals remaining above sea level. According to tabernacle records, this natural causeway was anteriorly complete, but was breached by a red- go about storm (probably a cyclone) in 1480.SRI LANKAS COMMITMENT TO TOURISM9. Tourism is a vital area in the policy structure has been identified as capable of efficiently driving the countrys socio economic development. The create by mental acts vision for the tourism sector is to make Sri Lanka foremost freedom destination in the reciprocal ohm Asian Region. The programme believes the gentle resources and natural and cultural endowments values and nation go away be essential in transforming Sri Lanka into a centre of excellence and bye tourists the highest values of real experiences in its unique setting.10 The One die Unit Unit for National coron ation in Tourism is a Centralized advancement and facilitation center accomplished Thurs assist potential tourism investors interested in investing in Sri Lanka Tourism Industry. Specialist round from various government agencies helps investors Identify thinkable projects, Obtain information possible, Regarding Investments, postulate applications, and Provide support in obtaining coronation promotional material privileges, trade licenses and other approvals Requested for project clearance. OSU Prevents the need for investors Thurs sink time in appear of answers and ensures all queries are handled by its specialist staff.11. Serious civil disturbances starting signal in July 1983 and the subsequent violence ill affected tourism. Total arrivals were 230,106 in 1986, down 43 part from 1982. To ease the dilemma of the industry, the government provided various concessions to hotels, such as the rescheduling of loans and the reduction of the disorder tax from 10 percent to 5 percent. The Ceylon Tourist Board also undertook a crash promotion program in an attempt to impact the islands two-base hit in serviceman tourist markets. Tourist arrivals in the low gear six months of 1987, however, showed a line of 23 percent compared with the same period the previous year. In early 1988, the outlook was for further contraction.12. In 1988 it remained ill-defined whether the policies of economic liberalization Sri Lanka has engage since 1977 would succeed in their principal goals of employment, riches creation, and economic diversification. Although growingd rice ingatheringion, the maturation of textile manufacturing, and an improved infrastructure were successes that could be attributed to the post-1977 policies, these gains came at the speak to of a mounting contrary and internal debt and declining living standards for the poor.POLITICAL environs TOWARDS TOURISM13. The One Stop Unit Unit for National Investment in Tourism is a Centralized prom otion and facilitation center recorded Thurs assist potential tourism investors interested in investing in Sri Lanka Tourism Industry. Specialist staff from various government agencies helps investors Identify possible projects, Obtain information possible, Regarding Investments, submit applications, and Provide support in obtaining investment promotion privileges, trade licenses and other approvals Requested for project clearance. OSU Prevents the need for investors Thurs spend time in search of answers and ensures all queries are handled by its specialist staff.14. Serious civil disturbances starting in July 1983 and the subsequent violence badly affected tourism. Total arrivals were 230,106 in 1986, down 43 percent from 1982. To ease the dilemma of the industry, the government provided various concessions to hotels, such as the rescheduling of loans and the reduction of the turnover tax from 10 percent to 5 percent. The Ceylon Tourist Board also undertook a crash promotion prog ram in an attempt to restore the islands image in world tourist markets. Tourist arrivals in the first six months of 1987, however, showed a decline of 23 percent compared with the same period the previous year. In early 1988, the outlook was for further contraction.15. In 1988 it remained unclear whether the policies of economic liberalization Sri Lanka has pursued since 1977 would succeed in their principal goals of employment, wealth creation, and economic diversification. Although increased rice production, the growth of textile manufacturing, and an improved infrastructure were successes that could be attributed to the post-1977 policies, these gains came at the cost of a mounting foreign and municipal debt and declining living standards for the poor.PROMOTION OF TOURISM INVESTMENT16. The Board of Investment has pleadd incentives in the form of tax exemptions, duty-free imports and the relaxation of controls on foreign fill in holdings. The incentives provided by the governm ent halt mainly attracted investment in the hotel sector. The present hotel capacity is 13,670 modes. That figure is projected to increase to 21,000 rooms by 2004, which ordain accommodate the target of 1 million tourists. Five regional domestic aerodromes to be restructured at a total cost of approx. Rs. 2bn Rathmalana, Koggala ,Ampara , Trincomalee Jaffna (Rathmalana bequeath be developed as a City aerodrome) Previous year. This denotes that tourism industry is one of the essence sources of foreign exchange earner in economy of Sri Lanka. Due to the development of tourism improved accessibility via new highways and variation of military to domestic airports may make high-end hotels in the Deep South and the due east of Sri Lanka viable alternatives to the Galle area.OPPORTUNITIES FOR TOURISM INDUSTRY17. Tourism directly affected to economy of a country. The momentum of growth in tourism, as result of the post conflict peaceful environment, the tourist arrivals grew to 654, 476 in 2010 surpassing the previous record of 566,202 in 2004. Tourist nights one of an important indicator in measuring the volume of tourist traffic, has recorded 6, 544, 760 in 2010. It shows 60.6 per cent increase compared to 2009. Total receipts in 2010 amounted to US $ 575.9 million as against US $ 349.3 million recorded for the year 2009. It indicates a vast increase of 64.9 per cent thanTHREATS FOR TOURISM INDUSTRY18. Development of tourist hotels in Sri Lanka will passing support the fast economic development. Developments of tourist hotels, increase room capacities, increase occupancy rates and develop the condition of rooms and grow the improvement provided in the hotels are the key factors to be mainly cerebrate on if to develop tourism. It indeed contributes to the development of tourism and in turn development of economy of the country. Tourist hotel industry should be developed in most of the famous city for tourism with sufficient amount of tourist hotels19. As political essay introduces additional elements of uncertainty into the rules governing tourism investment projects, the risk of capital loss is raised for longer- term projects. Political risk also negatively influences the timing and pricing of the tourism production process. prejudicial images, lack of foreign exchange for tourism development, lack of arch(prenominal) manpower, exhausted institutional frameworks for tourism planning, political instability caused by common violence, civil war conflicts are inhibitors to tourism development. However, little is known about how international tourism firms perceive political risks and other general barriers and threats to tourism promotion in Sri Lanka.20. Common political factors which affect the tourism industry are revolution, civil war, factional conflict, ethnic violence, religious turmoil, widespread riots, terrorism, nationwide strikes, protests, cross- national guerilla warfare, world public opinion, repatriation restric tions, bureaucratic politics, leadership struggle, high inflation, border conflicts, high external debt service ratio and creeping nationalization. Last thirty years Sri Lanka also faced the civil war and it affected the tourism industry of Sri Lanka. Organizing preferences frequently also create threat to the tourism industry because during the election period in nigh places to control the situation cur hews are implemented.21. This will create negative image in the mind of tourists. slightly of the foreign countries have reject Sri Lankas products in their country due to the usurpation of human rights during the war time. For example government invested and spent on IIFA programme but it was not a successful event for Sri Lanka because the big stars have boycotted the event. They didnt visit Sri Lanka because of the protests held in their country by asking them not to visit the place. Currently Sri Lanka is having negative relationship with some foreign countries accordingly the trade and import of Sri Lankan products will be decreased and it affects the tourism industry as well.FUTURE TRENDS, CHALLENGES22. Source markets in Asia and Middle East to drive fill Sri Lankas proximity to source markets such as India and its connectivity to the Middle East and mainland China will help in sustaining tourism growth. The rise in per capita income and therefore consumer spending in these source markets will aid the growth in tourism.23. Infrastructure growth to fuel tourism growth To ensure rapid growth of tourism in the future, tourism projects will need to be balance with infrastructure development. We accept that with improvements in road infrastructure and development of the new airport in Hambantota, various new destinations will put out in the country, especially to the north and the east, as these areas have abundant natural beauty to attract tourists but currently suffer from poor connectivity. We put up more airlines to operate in the country as th e second airport develops.24. Greater competition will facilitate growth We also expect greater competition with the introduction of new hotels in popular destinations such as Colombo, Kandy, Bentota, and Sigiriya, and Galle. We expect the existing hotels to undertake phased renovations to effectively postulate with the coming(prenominal) hotels. Also, with the increase in income from hotels over the past few years, we expect an increase in the number of hospitality cogitate transactions and mergers and acquisitions.25. Challenge of excoriation to other destinations Currently, the hotel industry witnesss significant employee attrition to countries in the Middle East and to the Maldives and India. However, with a more stable political environment and improvement in quality of living in Sri Lanka, we expect the attrition to gradually26. paucity of skilled labor As new players enter the market, the projected growth in tourism will be accompanied by shortfall of skilled labour. We a nticipate the need for relive hospitality education institutions as the contribution of the tourism sector to the overall economy increases.SUMMARY27. Sri Lanka is located in a strategically considered naval spot on the world map. Sri Lanka entered the international tourism arena in the 1960s. Since then, government involvement has been the key factor in tourism development in Sri Lanka. Over the years tourism in Sri Lanka has developed significantly. Today tourism has become the sixth Foreign Exchange Earner (FEE) in Sri Lankan economy.Tourism can make a great impact on development of the Sri Lankan economy. Employment opportunities and regional development are playing significant role with regard to the tourism industry development. The governments vision is to make the tourism sector as Sri Lankas most innovative and profitable income generating source.28. During past three decades Sri Lankas tourism industry had few draw backs. In the year 2010 approximately one million tourists visited Sri Lanka. Following graph indicates how tourism increased from 1966 to 2011 in Sri Lanka. To cater for this increase tourist hotels in Sri Lanka must be developed. Sri Lankas climate is tropical and the southwestern part of the island is the wettest. . Around 38,000 nation in Sri Lanka were killed during this incident and much of Sri Lankas coast was destroyed.29. Total arrivals were 230,106 in 1986, down 43 percent from 1982. The Ceylon Tourist Board also undertook a crash promotion program in an attempt to restore the islands image in world tourist markets. This denotes that tourism industry is one of the core sources of foreign exchange earner in economy of Sri Lanka. Tourism directly affected to economy of a country. Development of tourist hotels in Sri Lanka will extremely support the rapid economic development. Developments of tourist hotels, increase room capacities, increase occupancy rates and develop the condition of rooms and upgrade the service provided in the hotels are the key factors to be mainly focused on if to develop tourism. Tourist hotel industry should be developed in most of the famous city for tourism with sufficient amount of tourist hotels30. Negative images, lack of foreign exchange for tourism development, lack of skilled manpower, weak institutional frameworks for tourism planning, political instability caused by communal violence, civil war conflicts are inhibitors to tourism development. However, little is known about how international tourism firms perceive political risks and other general barriers and threats to tourism promotion in Sri Lanka.31. Last thirty years Sri Lanka also faced the civil war and it affected the tourism industry of country. Some of the foreign countries have reject Sri Lankas products in their country due to the violation of human rights during the war time. Currently Sri Lanka is having negative relationship with some foreign countries therefore the export and import of Sri Lankan products wi ll be decreased and it affects the tourism industry as well.32. Sri Lankas proximity to source markets such as India and its connectivity to the Middle East and China will help in sustaining tourism growth. To ensure rapid growth of tourism in the future, tourism projects will need to be balance with infrastructure development. We expect the existing hotels to undertake phased renovations to effectively compete with the upcoming hotels. We also expect the hotel companies, especially the domestic companies located in the country to undertake long and medium term hospitality discipline programs and regularly undertake competition benchmarking for compensation to retain the talent.RECCOMONDATIONS33. These are the recommendations which we can produce in related to tourism.Develop a marketing outline Emphasizing the creation and sustaining of a positive image of Sri Lanka as a substantive and well-established tourist destination offering facilities experiences that are distinct Sri Lan kan products.Establish a domestic tourism strategy To expand the existing product base and encourage a greater level of holiday movements in addition to pilgrim movements.Develop goods and services To meet the increasing needs of the tourism industry, and thus optimize the economic benefit of tourism development to Sri Lanka. modify the organization of tourism activities In order to bring about related improvements in the private sector, increase coordination between tourism and interrelated sectors, and introduce streamlining to facilitate the development of the tourism sector.Emphasize the environmental, social and cultural aspects Tourism Development Planning is the only way to solve many issues related to tourism in development. Therefore the tourism planning process should be designed to produce goals and objectives for the destination area related to tourism development. The tourism development plan provides overall guidelines for development and identifies development opportu nities. Many development countries are involved in tourism planning. monetary Assistance Financial assistance for hotel owners and any other profession in tourist sector would help to create more employment opportunities.Domestic Airport Airport also more than 100 km away from the tourist destination it is needed have domestic airports.Surfing Training This will create more employment opportunities and generate good income. Among the tourists there are some people they love for surfing and keen to learn.Conduct Language program line Language barrier should be overcome by conducting specially line of merchandise oriented language reading.Employ Combat Divers Surfing is big and adventure sport it dont take much time for some to transcend therefore as precautionary measure it is needed some chip divers close to the surfing area it would enhance the confidence of people who do surfing.Proper Taxi Service Taxi service should be reformed introducing good vehicles fixed with meter sy stem and giving training for drivers.Improve Infrastructure Facilities Infrastructure facilities such as Power, Highways, Railways, Airports, Ports, Water Supply, Telecommunications, Accommodations, and Recreational, obtain and Banking to be improved.Awareness Programs Tourists should be informed on specific social, cultural and religious environment programmed.GAD ALWIS SLEMajSTUDENT OFFICER -DSCSC