{"id":99365,"date":"2020-02-26T23:45:35","date_gmt":"2020-02-27T06:45:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=99365"},"modified":"2020-02-26T23:45:35","modified_gmt":"2020-02-27T06:45:35","slug":"rethinking-tourism-promotion-in-sri-lanka","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2020\/02\/26\/rethinking-tourism-promotion-in-sri-lanka\/","title":{"rendered":"Rethinking Tourism promotion in Sri Lanka"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Sri Lanka is an island nation\nsurround by sea & beaches. That is not all, Sri Lanka is also home to a\nwritten history over 2600 years with heritage & cultures that are key\nfeatures for any tourist. It is also a good time to rethink how we should\nstrategize our tourist promotion against what we had practiced in the past and\nadjust our strategies to something different & more attractive. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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We are today living in a world\nenveloped by commercialism and consumerism. The fast paced life of the West has\nexhausted most workers who yearn to get away to a more quieter and calmer\nsetting. We must promote this aspect. Sri Lanka is capable of providing any\nholiday maker a getaway experience. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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We are today living in a world\nwhere people in both West and Eastern hemispheres are realizing the importance\nof climate, the excessive heat and cold makes them realize that they need to\nprotect the environment & nature and desist from destroying & polluting\nit. Major programs have been launched by governments and private parties to\ngrow more trees, to think green, to devise more nature-friendly means of\neconomic growth & sustainability. Children are also being roped into these\nprograms with schools encouraging vegetable-fruit planting inside schools and\nchildren daily taking care of them. These returning to nature programs are\nslowly but surely making an impact. Most children are encouraged to grow plants\neven at home. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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What types of tourists are Sri\nLanka currently attracting? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The rich \u2013 the middle class \u2013\nWestern \u2013 Eastern \u2013 cultural etc is something the tourism experts must have\nready statistics on. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What do these segment groups\naspire when they take a holiday? Are we delivering and meeting their\naspirations or are we expecting them to adjust to what we are getting ready for\nthem? This is probably where we may err. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Many of the tourists that come from the western hemisphere to our part of the world are searching for something new \u2013 they are taking a holiday to get away from how they live 24×7 & wish to experience a different life, a different scenic beauty and a different way of living. While they would want to have the basic requirements of toilet facility etc they most certainly are not looking for hotels that are a mirror image of what they can experience in their own country even though in those countries they may not be able to afford visiting those 5 star hotels. In time to come hotels may end up empty abodes! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Many of today\u2019s tourists want to have a real cultural experience \u2013 many are looking to live in simple eco-settings with more greenery, minimal noise, herbal massages, meditation and even to try out eastern delicacies fine-tuned to their palate. These are all opportunities for both major hotels and smaller hotels as well as individual homestay businesses. What it does mean however, is that the Government and associated institutes must desist from clearing greenery and making concrete landscape or erecting hotels in major cultural areas that will likely ruin the eco-system. It also means Sri Lanka must take a firm stand \u2013 there are allegations that animals are tormented by the increase in tourists to wildlife \u2013 if elephant rides are an agony to the elephant \u2013 let us take the morally high stand of not making money by torturing the elephant. Likewise, we must also ensure our environment is also not harmed. Tap architects to find harmony with the natural landscape without harming it because the tourists seek not modern comforts but a cultural and eastern experience which Sri Lanka is more than able to provide. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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With many a holiday maker tired of their busy lives \u2013 retreats where they can meditate, calm their being and teach them something to take back home so that even after returning to the hustle and bustle of their lives they can take a few minutes to meditate and calm themselves will definitely ensure a happy tourist returning again to Sri Lanka and promoting Sri Lanka. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The alternative medicines in\nherbs and Ayurveda are also catching tourist attraction as many in western\nclimes are not only unable to afford western healthcare but are finding it\npoisoning their system too. Many are reading about Sri Lanka\u2019s herbal remedies\nand alternative health care practices which are also tourist attractions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Cultural heritage is another\naspect that requires not only maintaining the cultural sites but ensuring that\ncultural sites are not only business sites \u2013 no tourist wants to be drained to\nhis last penny or be pestered by people insisting they get into their tri-shaws\nor buy their goods. Therefore, the tourism ministry must carefully conduct\nsurveys on all cultural sites and look at the reviews by tourists and ensure that\ntourists are not pestered and they have safe & happy experience in Sri\nLanka.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Of course all tourists may not be\nin Sri Lanka for good reasons \u2013 therefore it is important that tourists trying\nto harm our children, culture, animals, heritage etc are also investigated and\nactions taken. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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These are all areas that are nothing\nnew to the industry \u2013 but what needs to be done is to rethink how we currently\noperate our tourism and finetune it to how Sri Lanka can make a holiday makers\nstay in Sri Lanka a pleasurable one and Sri Lanka can mutually profit and\npromote Sri Lanka and all that Sri Lanka can provide to the international traveler.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Ideally, Sri Lanka must use its tourists to take back home the correct image of Sri Lanka and to do that we must have a very structured and strategic tourism policy and promotion program. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shenali D Waduge<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sri Lanka is an island nation surround by sea & beaches. That is not all, Sri Lanka is also home to a written history over 2600 years with heritage & cultures that are key features for any tourist. It is also a good time to rethink how we should strategize our tourist promotion against what […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1498,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[47],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-99365","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-shenali-waduge"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99365","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1498"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=99365"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99365\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=99365"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=99365"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=99365"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}