CLASHES among government tourism agencies, absence of an international marketing and promotion campaign, and overpricing woes are stifling Sri Lanka’s efforts to achieve 2.5 million tourists by 2016, up from 450,000 in 2009.

The government has not approved the usual overseas marketing campaign since 2011, although such an investment was made even during the conflict years. The inaction was due to tight cashflows and the belief that word-of-mouth would help swell arrival numbers. Arrivals hit 855,900 in 2011 but industry players questioned the figure, saying that half were backpackers, expatriates or NGO workers who stayed in cheap accommodation or with friends and relatives.

“They don’t add to the hotel accommodation numbers and foreign exchange returns,” said one veteran hotelier. Meanwhile, five-star hotel rates saw a sharp increase from US$60 per night in 2010 to US$180 in 2011.

The Ministry of Economic Development and the Sri Lanka Tourism, which comprises four units that handle promotion, development, conventions and a training school, had disagreed over a promotional budget and presence at key trade fairs.

Foreign public relation agencies in key markets like Germany, France and the UK were discontinued in early 2011, and promotional work was allocated instead to diplomats at Sri Lankan missions. While competing destinations were represented by competent tourism officials at trade fairs, Sri Lanka’s presence was represented by embassy officials.

A hotelier, who declined to be named, told TTG Asia e-Daily that state agency officials had been barred from attending travel fairs.

A state agency official added: “In one instance, an embassy forgot the date of a trade event and had to be reminded on the day itself. In another example, a key MICE event promoting Sri Lanka was headed by a private sector official because state officials who organised the event were not permitted to leave (the country).”

Throwing another spanner in the works for the destination’s pursuit of tourism development, Nalaka Godahewa, chairman of Sri Lanka Tourism, resigned last month after a long-drawn dispute over the need for a promotion budget.

However, ministry officials denied the accusations, saying that senior officials of Sri Lanka Tourism were “hogging” overseas trips and not giving others a chance to travel, and that costly promotions were unnecessary owing to cashflow problems and the fact that Sri Lanka was drawing arrivals without publicity.

A FORMER staff of a German tour operator is offering a collection of free high quality destination and hotel photos from Asia to aid travel companies in their production of travel brochures.

Established in early 2011, Travelphotos24 now boasts a database of more than 12,000 images, many of which depict nature, people and culture of Asian destinations. The website also captures information on hotel facilities and contact details.

Marc Sievert, managing director of Travelphotos24, told TTG Asia e-Daily that the complimentary photo database was set up to provide fellow tour operators relief to a problem he once had to endure.

He said: “In one of my previous jobs I used to be responsible for brochure production for a large German tour operator. One of my roles was to collect images from various hotels around the world. With the Internet we could easily get images from various websites, but these images were often not of high resolution. Furthermore, it was a struggle to go on several websites to get images and description.

“I have always imagined how great it would be to have one single website (offering) images of hotels and destinations for free to tour operators.”

Sievert said that most images provided by Travelphotos24 were sourced from “friends and colleagues” who travelled around Asia, as well as national tourism boards, hotels and other suppliers.

More than 2,000 travel operators and incentive houses worldwide are registered users of Travelphotos24, and the number is expected to grow.

Hotels can have their images, facility information and promotional offers listed on Travelphotos24 for an annual fee of 150 euros (US$187.40) a year (excluding service tax).

SINGAPORE-BASED HPL Hotels & Resorts will take over the management of Soneva Gili, Maldives on July 1.

Previously managed by the Soneva Group (TTG Asia e-Daily, June 15, 2012), the resort will take on a new name – Gili Lankanfushi – and undergo minor enhancements. Business will be as usual at the property, and terms and conditions of guest reservations will not change with the new management.

Stephen Lau, chairman of HPL Hotels & Resorts, said the resort would complement the group’s product portfolio and be positioned as an upmarket boutique resort.

Located on Lankanfushi Island in North Malé Atoll, the environmental-sensitive resort features 45 over-water villas with private water gardens, open-air bathrooms, rooftop terraces and over-water sundecks.

Gili Lankanfushi is HPL’s fifth property in the Maldives. Other properties within the group are Four Seasons Resort at Kuda Huraa and Landaa Giraavaru; Holiday Inn Resort Kandooma; and Rihiveli Beach Resort. It is also the 12th hotel managed by the group.

AMARI Coral Beach Phuket and Amari Watergate Bangkok have started major renovation works which are expected to complete in 2013 and 2016 respectively.

Amari Coral Beach Phuket in the Patong Beach area will get a new façade, landscape and signage, upgraded Deluxe guestrooms and improved F&B hardware. The resort’s spa will also be upgraded to accommodate exacting standards established by parent company ONYX Hospitality Group’s new Breeze Spa brand.

The Amari Watergate Bangkok on Petchburi Road will see renovations covering its lobby, Cascade terrace bar, spa, fitness centre and all Executive rooms and suites.

TRANSITING passengers at the Singapore Changi Airport will now be able to enjoy two new itineraries under the airport’s Free Singapore Tour programme.

Launched in partnership with Singapore Airlines, the new itineraries are Heritage Tour and City Lights Tour. Available four times a day, the Heritage Tour takes visitors to the Colonial District, Merlion Park and Chinatown or Little India.

The City Lights Tour – the first evening itinerary offered by Free Singapore Tour – introduces visitors to Singapore’s nightlife and panoramic views from the Marina Bay Waterfront Promenade.

Both itineraries also include visits to new attractions such as Gardens by the Bay, Marina Bay Sands and the Singapore Flyer.

Peh Ke-Wei, vice-president, passenger development, Changi Airport Group, said the new itineraries were developed following requests for proposals from the inbound travel sector.

“We have received positive feedback from passengers about the tour through the years, but with the changing tourism landscape in Singapore, it is an opportune time to refresh the programme,” Peh said.

Free Singapore Tour programmes are offered complimentary to passengers of any airlines who are transiting at Changi Airport for at least five hours.

BALI Hotels Association’s (BHA) Say No to Disposable Plastics campaign has achieved a 23 per cent reduction of plastic use between May and November in 2011, exceeding its target of 20 per cent.

The environmental initiative, which involved 30 BHA member hotels, was introduced in April 2011. It encouraged member hotels to replace disposable plastics, which take centuries to degrade, with biodegradable plastics and other environmental-friendly alternatives such as glass.

According to a press release issued by the association, Bali generates approximately 750,000kg of plastic garbage a day, almost 50 per cent more than Jakarta.

Meanwhile, BHA’s key environmental initiative for this year is the Clean and Sustainable Water campaign which places water usage reduction as its top priority. The association is pushing for a number of actions among its members, including the reduction of water usage by five per cent by June 2013, mulching and composting, and the use of low-consumption tap, shower and toilet facilities.

THE MALDIVES Tourism Promotion Board opened offices in Beijing and Shanghai earlier this month to attract more visitors from China – which is already its top source of arrivals.

Chen Xueyu, secretary-general of the Shanghai Tourism Trade Association, said the Maldives was one of the most popular overseas destinations among Shanghainese travellers.

Chen added that the opening of the new offices would make it easier for the Maldives tourism authorities to introduce the destination to even more of the Chinese market.

Zou Qingling, deputy general manager, Asia-Pacific region, Shanghai Spring International Travel Service, said the Maldives would continue to be a top destination for the Chinese outbound market even without promotions, and that it was the “first-choice destination for (Chinese) honeymooners”.

Zou predicted that the number of Chinese arrivals to the Maldives would increase to 250,000 this year, up from 200,000 in 2011, and would continue to grow at the rate of 20 to 30 per cent per annum.

Reporting by Hong Xu