By Nirmala Kannangara

Q: What is the nature of your post as Tourism Minister and how does this differ with the tasks of Tourism Promotions Minister? 

A: There is no difference between Tourism and Tourism Promotion work but basically this was divided into two in order to streamline the work. My portfolio entails decision making to boost the industry where as Tourism Promotions Minister is in charge of promoting destination. As a whole, private and state partnership work to bring the leisure industry back on track would be carried out. My first and foremost task is to bring the tourism industry once again to the fourth if not even to a more better rating in terms of foreign exchange earner to the country as it has dropped to sixth place due to the decline in tourist arrivals to the country.

   Q: What are your plans to develop the leisure industry in general and to expand tourism to the north and the east in particular?

A: I was entrusted with this work till the next general election and until then all the good work introduced by the former minister would be carried out uninterruptedly. In addition the pledges given in the Mahinda Chinthanaya to develop the country’s leisure industry would be implemented.

The infrastructure facilities have to be enhanced where the road network has to be improved at the earliest. In addition domestic airlines and seaplanes too have to be reintroduced to boost the industry.

Initially Kalpitiya, Arugambay and Pasikudda would be developed as these are very famous tourist destinations in the East while the government has taken steps to build a luxury hotel in close proximity to the Jaffna railway station. We have already selected the best places to build hotels in Jaffna and once the necessary surveys are done they would be given to investors to build hotels in the northern peninsula.     

When it comes to tourism promotions the ministry has to expedite new methods of promotional activities rather than going for big promotional campaigns and fairs in tourism generating markets. There are many ways of promoting destinations very easily and efficiently. There are more than two million Sri Lankans living abroad and if we could give them a small booklet and a CD when leaving the country they could very easily promote destinations in a small way.   

 Q: President Mahinda Rajapakse has set a target to attract 2.5-million tourists to the country in 2016. Given the present context do you think that this is a feasible target?

A: This is a feasible target although there are many areas that have to be developed immediately if to achieve our goal. Initially we have to increase the number of hotel rooms and provide infrastructure facilities, which would take at least nine years to be completed. At the moment there are only 14,500 hotel rooms and at least this has to be increased up to 50,000 and the road net work in certain tourism attraction places have to be developed.

The existing 6,000 guest and rest house rooms have to be upgraded and many incentives have to be provided to them to increase their facilities. President Mahinda Rajapakse has already assured to increase the budgetary allocation to the Tourism Ministry from 2010.  

In addition we have to increase the number of trained staff and as a result we have planned to open four new hotel schools in Trincomalee, Batticaloa, Negombo and Kalutara within the next few months.    

Q:  What are your plans to increase the number of hotel rooms in the country in order to cater to the said target?

 A: Many investors have shown interest to build hotels in the country and as the Minister in charge I will take all the necessary action to provide incentives such as tax-free facilities to get the required number of hotel rooms increased.

Q: There is a dire need for boutique hotels and more luxurious eco friendly hotels. Are there any plans to overcome this?

A: Yes when we are going for a target we should build more boutique hotels and also eco friendly hotels in the country, as we want to attract high yield travelers. Once all the facilities are improved we could be a better destination than Maldives who only has the beaches to sell and many other popular Asian destinations. Sri Lanka is a country where we could not only sell the lovely beaches but also many other attraction places such as heritage sites, world famous religious places, the hill country to name a few.

When the industry was suffering we had to sell our product as a budget market but now we are a free nation and chances to increase the rates are inevitable. So we have to introduce more and more boutique and up-market hotels immediately. 

Encouragingly, with the resolution of the conflict investment confidence has gone up increasingly and many locals and foreign investors have shown a great interest in investing with hotel projects mainly in the north and the east. After a thorough survey we would select the best places for tourism sites in the north and east and give the necessary clearance to start off the projects.     

 Meanwhile, when I had an audience with the hotel owners recently they wanted me to grant them certain facilities in order to refurbish their hotels to gear up for the occasion. At the moment I am negotiating with the relevant authorities as to how we could help those who need our support.

Q: The new branding ‘Small Miracle’ has caused consternation and would there be any changes to it? If so how much are you planning to spend on the new branding?

A: At a meeting held at the Kandy Presidents House on July 26 a collective decision was taken by His Excellency the President, President’s Secretary Lalith Weeratunge, Tourism Ministry Secretary George Michael and my self that the ‘small miracle’ tag has to be taken out with immediate effect and be reintroduced with a more appropriated branding.

I personally did not like the previous branding that cost the tourism ministry a colossal Rs.17.2 million.

We are a nation that has proved to the entire world wonders starting from our ancient irrigation skills that could not be matched with any other country. We possess a rich ancient history and the Mahawamsa bears testimony to our great past. So why do we want to brand our country as a small miracle when we have performed big miracles? Leave alone the past and take the recent war victory.

Isn’t that a huge miracle? At a time when we were pressurized by many of the super power nations to bring the military operations against the world’s most ruthless terrorist organization to a halt, we were still able to crush the LTTE and bring peace to the country after nearly three decades of ruthless war. In such a backdrop why should we tag our country to be a place of small miracle? Take the Indian tag ‘Incredible India’ as an example. That alone gives a good impression of India among the foreigners.  

 President Mahinda Rajapakse very correctly agreed to my argument and as a result we have taken out the ‘small miracle’ tag with immediate effect and a very suitable branding would be launched at the earliest. Unlike the previous occasion the new branding would cost only a few hundreds of rupees, which would certainly be less than one thousand rupees, which too could be considered as ‘big miracle’.