The main purpose of celebrating World Tourism Day is to raise the importance of tourism worldwide and to show the public how tourism affects not only the economic values of a country but also its impact on the social, political and cultural values of the country or region. In the October session of World Tourism Day, 1997 convened at Istanbul, Turkey, the United Nation’s World Trade Organizations (WTO) General Assembly decided to designate a host country every year to act as a partner during the celebration of World Tourism Day.
Sri Lanka is naturally blessed with pristine beaches, mist covered mountains, cascading waterfalls, lush green tea estates and magnificent jungles with diverse wildlife. Our rich heritage is embellished with cultural diversity, vibrant religious festivals and historic buildings. Our succulent spice-laden cuisine has been alluring tourists for decades, with our fresh seafood being a bonus to every discerning gourmet. The tourism appeal of Sri Lanka is the envy of many nations. Perhaps our greatest asset is the smile and friendship of our people. Sri Lankan tourism has made significant growth amidst many challenges.
With a current membership of 156 countries, the United Nations WTO encourages the implementation of the Global Code of Ethics in Tourism, in order to maximize tourism’s socio-economic contribution while minimizing its possible negative impacts.
 Elephant ride |
The message by the UNWTO Secretary General Surab Pololikashvilli says, “The human desire to travel and explore is universal, which is why tourism must be open for everyone to enjoy. So too must the many social and economic benefits that tourism brings be available to everybody. World Tourism Day 2021 highlights the power of ‘Tourism for Inclusive Growth’. By celebrating this day, we state our commitment that, as tourism grows, the benefits that come will be felt at every level of our broad and diverse sector, from the biggest airline to the smallest family business.”
The UNWTO is responsible for the promotion of responsible, sustainable and universally accessible tourism geared towards the achievement of the universal 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
UNWTO offers leadership and support to the tourism sector in advancing knowledge and tourism policies worldwide, advocating for responsible tourism and promoting tourism as a driving force towards economic growth, inclusive development and environmental sustainability.
Sustainable tourism should:
Make optimal use of environmental resources that constitute a key element in tourism development, maintaining essential ecological processes and helping to conserve natural heritage and biodiversity.
Respect the socio-cultural authenticity of host communities; conserve their living cultural heritage and traditional values.
Ensure viable, long-term economic operations, providing socio-economic benefits to all stakeholders that are fairly distributed, including stable employment.
Achieving sustainable tourism is a continuous process and it requires constant monitoring of impacts, introducing the necessary corrective measures whenever necessary. Sustainable tourism should also strive to maintain a high level of tourist satisfaction and ensure a meaningful experience to tourists. Over the past few years there have been creative local brands offering guest’s eco-tourism-based properties. There is also a continuing demand for Ayurveda-induced health tourism by European travel markets, which Sri Lanka must grab, sustain and foster for the future.
Agro Tourism is a new product in the Asian region, where guests can stay at farms and indulge in all activities. This experience includes picking fresh vegetables and cooking with the chefs, learning about the animals on the farm and also purchasing products like fruits and jams made on the property. This is a good market for Sri Lankans businesses to invest in, as it’s a refreshing tourism product that appeals to all city dwellers locally and globally. Wine tourism, with an emphasis on conserving nature is growing in Europe as people enjoy the winery experience. We have many salubrious green tea estates. Do we have a branded tea tour in Sri Lanka for guests to stay in and enjoy the production experience on an estate?
Whilst some areas of Sri Lanka have significantly enhanced tourist infrastructure, other areas need planned development. For example there are many beautiful beaches and islands in the Northern Province. These areas should be wisely developed whilst sustaining the natural and cultural balance when building new hotels. Young people must be recruited from local areas. In the post war era it was Jetwing Hotels under the dynamic vision of its Chairman Hiran Cooray, who boldly forayed into Jaffna with two new star class hotels. This venture introduced the youth of Jaffna to modern hotel operations.
Colombo city is being adorned with high rise buildings. But do we have a safe environment for night life from the tourists’ perspective? Let’s look at some South East Asian countries like Malaysia, the Philippines, Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. These countries offer pulsating clubs, sumptuous street food, night city tours on double decker buses (often free), cultural festivals and even visits to haunted mansions! We in Sri Lanka faced resistance to develop a vibrant nightlife. This is not true in other nations. I have enjoyed the famous River Walk in San Antonio, Texas, where families come and enjoy food, music and the beauty of this river in the city.
I spoke to veteran hotelier M. Shanthikumar, who counts over 35 years of experience in the tourism sector. He is the President of the Colombo City Tourist Hotels Association (CCTHA), Vice President of the Tourist Hotels Association of Sri Lanka and Director of the SLTDA. He commented, “Over the decades the tourism and hotel industry has become an export industry. We welcome all the major international hotel brands in Colombo. We have witnessed many challenging times where tourism faced the ripple effects of the 1983 riots, 2004 Tsunami, 2019 Easter Sunday attacks and now the Covid pandemic, which resulted in losing millions of rupees over and over. It affected the stakeholders but also the hotel staff who are going through hardship because of pay cuts or not earning the service charge. Many staff have left the hotel industry because they have lost confidence since this is the first industry to get affected due to natural and manmade disasters. However, we are confident we will bounce back whatever the challenges we face.”
Chairman of the Chefs Guild of Sri Lanka Gerard Mendis who is also the patron of the Colombo Restaurateurs’ Collective and an international judge of the World Culinary Olympics, said, “The CGSL aims to mentor our chefs and give them international exposure. Food is a vital part of every hotel. We have been successful in introducing tea paired with Sri Lankan cuisine. We have even created tea-based cocktails. However Sri Lankan food needs to promoted with greater effort globally. I hope to introduce a tea and spice festival soon, when the pandemic situation improves.”
“We want foreign guests to cook with our chefs and better understand our amazing spices. In terms of exposure for our local chefs at times we face a non-availability of some imported ingredients. This hampers the essence of the dish. Further many chefs migrate overseas, where they feel better appreciated along with enhanced wages. We must try to retain our local talent. Also I must say we need to present a better value added tourism product to future guests, as they tend to compare Sri Lanka to other destinations within the Asian region,” Mendis said.
As we begin to adjust to the post Covid era in the future may we all enjoy happy and memorable vacations. Globally responsible tourism must preserve destinations and contribute to climate change actions. Tourism can be a force for good in our world. The tourism industry will hopefully see growth in the coming decade, because people always desire to travel overseas.
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