Stefan D'silva Views & Interviews 22 June 2009 339 views 4 Comments  Print This Post  Email This Post

A casual browse of the internet reveals a wide and diverse selection of special interest tours in Sri Lanka.  That is great!  Well done! To all those tour operators who offer such packages. Yet; there is more to be done. From my limited experience in the field of promoting Sri Lanka at various forums in Australia and the responses I have had to my personal  website  showcasing Sri Lanka’s wild diversity, I have detected a ‘gap’ in the manner in which we market Sri Lanka. I take nothing away from some great advertising campaigns on the internet and creative tours on offer by the industry experts in Sri Lanka. My suggestions below emanate from my experience in fielding many questions from many people in Australia who are yearning or willing to get over there and have a ‘Sri Lankan’ experience.

I also detect a large ‘baby boomer generation’ ex-pat population in Australia that are yearning to travel to Sri Lanka. They pursue nostalgia. Many are retired and have the financial resources and the time to make the trip. I dare say similar demographic groups also exist in the UK, USA and Europe. It won’t take much to lure them back to enjoy the land of their birth and ‘touch’ memories that have stayed with them ever since they left Sri Lanka. They number in their thousands and are a target group that need some attention in terms of marketing.

My objective is simple: it is time to lift the image of Sri Lanka and invigorate the marketing of Lanka; an exotic and complex land – like no other.

There are four fundamental points I offer, from personal experience, in urging the renewal of tourism marketing strategies;

1. The  AGGRESSIVE  marketing of ‘new products’ such as Dolphin watching and Whale watching
2. Instead of marketing the country (all the time)…..market the location and the related attraction ( I am informed this was a strategy used by Israel)
3. Renew, invigorate and diversify the ‘old posters’- from my infancy I have seen  posters of the Kandy Perahera, a beach at sunset with a coconut palm branch in silhouette, Sigiriya Rock and frescoes, Kandyan Dancer, archaeological ruins, a couple of elephants at Yala and a tea plucker on an estate.  How about Whales, Dolphins, Turtles, Butterflies, Dragon Flies, endemic birds, Dugongs (Mannar /Pooneryn area), white water rafting, wind surfing, water skiing, short sailing trips along the coast, hiking the Peak Wilderness or the Balangoda Range, deep sea fishing, diving off wrecks, island wide cycling tours…and so on. This does not mean we abandon the unique cultural and archaeological special interest heritage tours, but we need to broaden the perception of Sri Lanka as having only a cultural side and golden beaches to offer the world.
4. Marketing Sri Lanka abroad has to be “country specific” and “season specific”: Market the warm inviting beach resorts during the European winter season.  As an example: marketing a beach to the Australians is not viable as they have beaches and Bali is very popular. However, available travel figures suggest about three million Australians travel each year: of which 1.2 million travelled to Asia. We can certainly make a bid for a market share of those Asia travellers. If Sri Lanka’s latest indicators are that ‘short stay’ tourists are more frequent; then very attractive ‘stop over’ packages may well get the attention of some of the Aussie travellers. Attractive air fares and stop over packages with location specific attractions may well stimulate their interest. We must offer what Indonesia and New Zealand cannot offer the Aussie traveller. Younger travellers are, without doubt, environmentally conscious and ‘green tourism’ is certainly an attractive option to them.  Note: I use Australia as an example but the principles of what I suggest would apply world wide.

A further interesting example is that of a close friend of mine who has trekked all over South East Asia and Nepal. What struck me was that the tour organisers he used had contracted and engaged the local villagers to host the hikers overnight. The hikers shared the same local diet and slept on the floor in sleeping bags. They ‘shared’ the local experience and loved it – in fact they actively sought the ‘local experience’ and loved the countryside they walked through. Local guides (accredited) were also used. In terms of infrastructure costs to the tour organiser they were minimal, if any. What was obviously contracted with the locals was the cost of food and a clear set of ‘standards’ (whatever they are). I also saw the obvious benefit of the locals beginning to realise the value of the land they have and the possibility of having an additional income from not ‘over developing’ their natural habitat. I suggest a ‘local guide’ could easily be a person who has local knowledge and is a local resident.

My pal leads hiking tour groups and he will be most interested in a long hike in Sri Lanka (I am talking 100-150 kms). However, if one successful tour like this is accomplished, it will certainly open the doors to others. The ‘walking fraternity’ worldwide are very much in touch with each other looking for new challenges.

I travel at least twice a year to Sri Lanka and probe places that are ‘off the beaten track’; I am more than happy to connect with any person who may wish to seek new places for specialist nature tours. Please don’t hesitate to contact me on the e mail address below.

Heres hoping a great future for Sri Lanka!

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