Chairman of Sri Lanka Chapter of Institute of Hospitality and senior hotelier Roshan Perera expressed confidence that the country would experience a boom in tourism and the coming winter would be quite a successful one.
We are definitely a high market and with the peace dividend up market tourists have been visiting here and the numbers are on the increase , he explained.
“What we are experiencing right now is a temporary set back due to a number of reasons and we will be able to overcome the situation,” he said.
The prevailing weather conditions also have contributed to this and some even have postponed their visits here due to the same reason, he added.
UK is a traditional market on whom we depend a lot and the British tourists will not come here during this period because of the world Cup soccer as they prefer to spend the evenings at numerous soccer clubs watching the action on a giant screen with full of entertainment.
On the other hand others would not want to miss the cricket series between Sri Lanka and England starting today.
Responding to a query whether Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau is promoting the country in the correct manner , the senior hotelier answered in the affirmative and said “it has to be a concerted effort and one cannot expect Sri Lanka Tourism or the respective embassies or High Commissions to do the job on its own. All stakeholders should join hands and promote the product together.”
Infact the hoteliers should keep a close rapport with institutions who are marketing the product , he added.
The success of our tourism depends how we market the product and its standard, Perera said.
We are upgrading our product with new hotels coming up and the industry is getting highly competitive with world class brands coming to the country.
Hence the other hotels would have to improve their product to a great extent to meet this competition created by new and international brands coming into Sri Lanka which augurs well for the
country’s tourism, the seasoned hotelier opined.
Our product today is innovative and of a high standard and there is a varied choice for the discerning client, hence it stands out.
Already existing hotels have upgraded the product to meet the new demands.
Asked for is opinion on the school of thought that in countries in the region such as Thailand and Malaysia hotels are much cheaper than here he said that in Bangkok there is an excess of rooms and due to the competition certain levels of rooms would be cheaper than here , but in the other cities of Thailand hotels are much more expensive than Sri Lanka.
A hotel must be able to convince a tourist to return to the same hotel for his or her next holiday and that will be the success story.
“If you deliver the promise, they will certainly return. Friendliness of the staff and our smile only, would no longer be able to attract holidaymakers to return to a destination,” he pointed out.
There is considerable improvement in arrivals from Russia, China and India.
There is a huge demand from Indian corporate for conventions and this is a market we should consolidate, he said.
Another market where we need to promote out product is in Japan where there is great potential.
Already there is an improvement in the arrivals of Japanese holidaymakers and we need to promote our product vigorously, he said.
Sri Lanka is known in Japan as we have strong bonds with them our ties with them goes back to many decades.
The Japanese love to visit here and the market is improving slowly, but steadily and it is a market that we should sustain, The Institute of Hospitality Chairman pointed out.
Asked about how Sri Lankan expatriates would contribute to the country’s tourism industry, he said that the expats in the UK and Australia have their children’s weddings in Sri Lanka and each wedding party would book around 30-40 rooms and they stay here for two-three weeks in a hotel. This is additional income to the hotel other than the wedding reception, he said.
There are more and more investors coming here and constructing hotels as we have been able to win investor confidence, he added.
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