Sri Lanka focuses on Mideast

Dubai: Despite the ongoing conflict in the country's northeast, Sri Lanka's Deputy Minister of Tourism Faiszer Musthapha has big hopes for developing Sri Lanka as a major tourist destination.

The Middle East region has been identified as one of the key source markets by the Sri Lankan government. As part of a tourism promotion initiative, Musthapha was in Dubai recently to attend a conclave of Sri Lankan diplomats based in the region. They discussed strategies for attracting more Arab tourists.

The Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau has opened an office in Dubai to coordinate its promotional activities in the region. It is the sixth such office in the bureau's international network that includes Britain, India, Germany, France and Russia.

In an exclusive interview, Musthapha told Gulf News that several Arab investors are prepared to invest in Sri Lanka but are waiting for the conflict to end.

Gulf News: What is the objective of holding this meeting of ambassadors?

Faiszer Musthapha: I had made a request to our foreign minister sometime back that from the tourism perspective I would like to meet all our ambassadors and work out a strategic plan for this year and see what we could jointly do to promote tourism.

I had individual meetings with most of the ambassadors to discuss how we could carry out our marketing strategy in their respective countries. It was very fruitful to talk with them because as ambassadors they promote the country. This initiative will further enhance our tourism growth. We have a tourism officer based in Dubai, and we have hired a destination promotion company as consultant for the whole region. Earlier there was no such initiative with regard to the Middle East market. I have been focusing primarily on six countries. They are the UAE, Kuwait, Qatar, Iran, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain.

What has been the response to your tourism campaign in these markets?

Before 2008, we had 30 per cent growth. Last year because of the global recession we had an overall 10 per cent decline [in foreign tourist numbers] but from the Middle East there was a 23 per cent growth. So this market has become important. Earlier our focus had been on [Western] European markets primarily. Then we looked at India and Eastern Europe and now the Middle East is the most promising market for us.

How is the Indian market doing? What has been the impact of the global financial crisis on tourist arrivals from India?

The Indian market is the biggest in terms of numbers. For Indian tourists, there is no visa requirement. In terms of yield, this is the second most important market. The Indian market has shown a bit of decline. I am confident Sri Lankan tourism has the strength to meet the challenges and move forward.

Now that travel is down because of the economic situation, what are your expectations?

I think Sri Lanka will benefit from the current situation. If you look at regional countries, they are far more costly than Sri Lanka. We offer similar facilities, but Sri Lanka is value for money. Today people are not spending the money the way they did earlier. Sri Lanka today would be a destination if people are looking for value for money. We expect to gain from the economic downturn.

When we talk about tourism in Sri Lanka, the conflict always comes to mind.

The LTTE is today restricted to 40 square miles. We have eradicated ter rorism from the east, and in the next two to three months Sri Lanka will totally rid itself of terrorism. We expect major economic growth once peace dawns on the whole of Sri Lanka.

What is your assessment of the damage that this conflict has done to Sri Lanka's tourism industry?

Sri Lanka would have had major investment in tourism if this conflict was not there. We would have had the world's best hotels in our country. This terrorism is the only thing that has kept investment away from Sri Lanka. Once there is peace, we will see all the major players in the area of tourism coming to Sri Lanka because of the diversity that we offer. Arabs call Sri Lanka the Pearl of the Indian Ocean. You would not see this diversity anywhere else.

Apart from attracting tourists, are you also trying to get investment from this region?

The Galadari Brothers have invested in Sri Lanka. There are a few other companies that have invested. We believe if we can get more Arab investors, then we can encourage more Arab tourists to visit us. So we are looking at how we can get Arab investment in the tourism sector.

Have you been in talks with any companies?

At this moment I would not like to mention their names. Some have shown interest and negotiations are pending. They know the conflict is coming to an end. This is the final phase of eradicating terrorism in Sri Lanka. So, people are interested in Sri Lanka.

Are there other sectors in which you are looking for investment from the Middle East?

We are looking for investment in industries. There is some Middle Eastern investment in our flour mills. Iran is investing in an oil refinery project. Some luxury hotel chains have shown interest in starting a hotel school in Sri Lanka to meet their human resource requirements. That is under process. There are a few hotel companies from the UAE that are interested in investing. Some hotel chains from Saudi Arabia have also shown interest.

In general, how would you reassure tourists about their safety?

Sri Lanka is as safe as any other destination. Terrorism is something that even the West has faced, the Middle East has faced it. You can count on your fingers the number of countries that have not faced terrorism. Today terrorism is a global phenomenon.

Our security standards are as good as in any other country. Since 1983, more than five million tourists have come to Sri Lanka, not one tourist has been subjected to terrorism.

What is your target this year? Are you going to reduce your promotion budget because of the downturn?

Let us be realistic. We want to sustain what we achieved last year. In this grave economic crisis, that would be my primary target before talking about growth. In the Middle East market, even in this adverse environment, we have had about 23 per cent growth. I estimate about 25-30 per cent growth from this market.

How do you look at your relations with the Middle East?

Our president [Mahinda Rajpakse] has been a close friend of the Middle East and he has supported the Palestinian cause from the beginning. The prosperity of the Middle East has an impact on our economy. Our economy depends a lot on the Middle East for foreign exchange [through money sent home by expatriates]. We have 1.5 million Sri Lankans working overseas, a majority of them are in the Middle East. In the area of labour, we are trying to move away from sending unskilled workers to more skilled workers.