Sri Lanka's tourism economy should be built on impact: not merely on head counts
A strong tourism economy isn’t built on headcounts; it’s built on impact. The question isn’t how many arrive and how much they spend, but how can we ensure the benefits flow widely through many areas of the country.
Tourism has always been important to Sri Lanka’s economy and is a vital cornerstone of the island’s GDP. It provides numerous benefits to cities in the form of urban revitalization and economic and socio-cultural opportunities for residents whilst attracting private investment as well as revenue for local government.
However, these are activities that require a delicate balance between different situations or requirements. When allowed to develop unchecked, certain gains on one side will bring about losses to the other.
Sri Lanka is currently experiencing prominent pockets of overtourism, where specific popular sites of attraction face overcrowding. There are also some of the least visited areas which struggle with low tourism numbers, despite offering unspoiled natural beauty that presents a peaceful tropical getaway, whilst providing culturally authentic experiences.
Uneven visitor distribution in popular destinations can create disorder and dissent. Hence, one needs to determine the potential imbalances in a given destination by measuring the impact created by tourism intensity, which can be exacerbate by seasonal fluctuations.
Tourism intensity is the number of nights spent at tourist accommodations divided by the resident population. It is an indicator of economic dependence on tourism, potentially also revealing strain on resources and vulnerability to demand shocks when the intensity is particularly high.
One way to determine the most attractive tourist destinations is to consider the number of nights spent in tourist accommodations. Such data is collected at the level of provinces or district. A study of the tourism typologies will reveal what percentage of the nights in the month / year were spent in certain popular destinations and what percentage they accounted for in terms of Sri Lanka’s total surface. The likelihood that a high percentage of total room nights been spent in coastal and city destinations may well be the case in Sri Lanka.
However, the total number of overnight stays provides only a partial picture of potential unbalanced tourism. One needs to look at tourism seasonality to provide a clearer picture. Tourism seasonality is number of nights spent in the three most visited months in relation to the total nights spent.
Almost all world destinations are facing seasonal concentration of tourist activities. Seasonality cannot be completely avoided due to climate patterns and holiday calendars. Measuring the impact from the sequential concentration of tourist demand in few hectic weeks or months will reveal the efficient or inefficient use of tourism facilities and how much pressure is exerted on the ecological and socio-cultural carrying capacity.
Understanding the extent of these issues and their reasons is necessary to manage tourism in a way that maximizes the benefits to all. Regulation, planning and infrastructure investment should account for the full scope of the economic reach visitors bring.
Expanding tourism’s reach, stretching seasonality and delivering value for people and places that have historically seen less of the tourism dollar is the real story of tourism.
Shafeek Wahab – Editor, Hospitality Sri Lanka, Consultant, Trainer, Mystery Guest Auditor, Motivational Speaker, Ex-Hotelier.
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