AN UPDATED tourism campaign promising greater private-sector input and budget for tradeshow participation and advertising has drawn flak from trade players that TTG Asia e-Daily spoke to.
The Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau (SLTPB) last Monday announced the appointment of a new board of directors with equal representation from the government and the private sector.
Organisations focusing on the same markets would be grouped into clusters for promotion efforts, confirmed Mahen Kariyawasam, president of the Sri Lanka Association of Inbound Tourist Operators, who said this happened at an SLTPB meeting.
The NTO has also earmarked Sri Lankan Rs1.2 billion (US$9 million) for trade fairs and events, while chairman Rohantha Athukorala said the bureau plans to appoint an advertising, PR and research agencies to better promote the country.
But the trade is disappointed. Chaminda Dias, managing director at DMC Luxe Asia, said that while there were a few changes, the tourism campaign remains essentially the same. “We’ll have to wait and see how it evolves to make a judgement call, he said.
The owner of a small hotel, who declined to be named, pointed out that small-scale hotels, guesthouses or shops are not represented on the new SLTPB board of directors even though they contribute heavily to tourism.
Meanwhile Dharma Dharmapala, CEO at the sports and adventure specialist Lanka Sportreizen, criticised Sri Lanka’s decision to discontinue the operation of Sri Lankan Tourism offices in the UK, Germany and France eight years ago.
“We need these specialised offices to properly market Sri Lanka as a destination,” he said, also highlighting the board’s promotion in the Russian market. “While China was showing results, Russia was not and we were spending too much money there.”
Besides, other more fundamental issues have also not been resolved. MHA Raheem, president of the Tourism Association of Arugam Bay, said it had been over a month since senior bureau officials promised to resolve land ownership issues there and clean up the beaches.
“We are still waiting for solutions,” he said.
