No posts for two days... need a break.

 

Enjoy with The Muses ....

 

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'Lessons' captured from what's around me ....

Would like to think there is a valid socio-economic lesson in all of this ...

The natural world is not only one of beauty but also one filled with lessons for us to learn ...

The solutions and the beauty in the life we seek, is often just there under our own noses ...

It is sad we ignore this fact and look for the big stuff and often get lost ...

Scale need be an important consideration in our way forward ....

This is equally valid for persons as well as nation economies ...

Never live beyond one's means ...

Never leave debt to be paid by others ....

Before a venture is begun, ask how the utility bills will be paid ...

 

 

 

Elephant in our tourism: the less-spoken tale - Out of the Box 31

by Renton de Alwis

For a recent article I wrote on tourism for a new magazine, the editors chose to insert a photograph of a group of tourists riding an elephant with her knee- deep in water in a lake, in the backdrop of Sigiriya. It must make a good photograph for visitors to take home, but to me that represents the anti-thesis of what I wanted to say about tourism in Sri Lanka. I am aware that in Nepal’s Therai, within the wildlife parks, elephants are used for tourists to view Rhinoceros in the marshes. They do not use mechanized vehicles and position this activity as an eco-friendly way of making such observation. Quite contrary to that we saw how Elephants were paraded on Bangkok’s city streets (now banned), with them breathing huge doses of CO2 and the cruelty inflicted on them at some of the elephant parks all around that county.

In Sri Lanka too we observe them being used in hurtful ways on the beaches at Mt.Lavinia, Beruwela, Kalutara and the like to earn the fast bucks, often with sponsorship of the hotels in the areas. To me these majestic creatures away from their own natural environments, amount to our inflicting cruelty on them. So is over-activity within our parks and at the annual gatherings, for we impose undue pressure on their otherwise normal lifestyles. Then there is the human-elephant conflict, which is raging at accelerated pace in this post conflict development phase.

I do not have objection to passive viewing of our elephants in the wild, done with least interference within designated park areas. But it must be done with sensitivity and with deep sense and understanding of the needs of these majestic animal friends of ours. Today, I repost this, my November, 2010 article in the ‘Daily Financial Times, Sri Lanka’ to bring a fresh focus on this issue in our tourism.

Imagine a presentation on tourism for Sri Lanka without featuring an elephant or a herd of them in it. They are everywhere. In the wild, on the beaches, among humans; mostly serving them and when not getting in conflict with them. We in Sri Lanka indeed have reason to celebrate their existence among us. There had been over 10,000 of these majestic species present at the beginning of this century on this very island, a feature unmatched by any other landmass of this size, where a diversity of natural habitats and a wide-spectrum of species of animals, birds and other beings exist. 

At national parks the likes of Yala, Uda Walawe, Wilpattu and Kaudulla, elephants are observed by visitors on special vehicles often overcrowding them with, scant regard or respect of the fact that visitors are intruders in the wild-habitats of these inhabitants.  The ‘wild-elephants’ one observes on the way to the Uda Walawa Park, between the sluice gate and the park entrance, waiting behind the electric fence to be fed with desserts of bananas and buns by passing visitors, is but one testimony to the sad-side of the tale of our elephants even within protected areas.

From July to October ‘The Gathering’ offers a spectacle at Minneriya, where already too many visitors are said to be getting too close, to ensuring the wellbeing of the observed.

On our beaches, it is yet another story. At Arugam Bay and several other coastal areas of the East and the North West, they roam in the wild and become tourists themselves. Yet, on the West and the South in the vicinity of beach hotels, elephants in captivity are used for rides by tourists on soft-sand, toiling hard, most all day. Not at all a natural phenomenon and an anti-thesis to the conservation mantrum in tourism of; “take only photographs… leave only footprints”.

In August in their majesty, yet other domesticated elephants ride for days, some having travelled for weeks on asphalt roads, to perform traditional ritualistic chores at the pinnacle of all pageants the Dalada Perehara. Supplementing this annual event are many other lesser events all over the island, where elephants take center-stage in pageantry, all year around. In the old days, elephants serving the temples were revered as sacred and were treated with much respect. Today, most double as working elephants performing tasks unbecoming of them.

In areas of the Cultural Triangle such as at Habarana and Dambulla, elephants are made to walk with tourists riding on their backs on surfaces alien to them, much like they do in several tourist areas in Thailand. Away from the trajectory of tourist brochures and attention of tourists, elephants take on a survival battle with humans for the ‘sins’ they commit while seeking food within their lost habitats.     

In Africa, it is reported that about 19,000 elephants are killed each year, mostly for their ivory. Thankfully, our numbers are nowhere near there, yet given that we only have an estimated 6,000 left with us, and only a few hundred of them are tuskers, our own human -elephant conflict needs to be dealt with much care and attention.

According to wildlife officials and other studies, Sri Lanka looses close to 200 of its estimated total population of 6,000 elephants each year, as a result of the conflict between the two species. Most deaths are inflicted by angered villagers shooting or setting deadly-traps for elephants that damage their crops or challenge human presence.

The Pinnawela Elephant Orphanage was setup in 1975, to be a quaint purpose-built facility, with the primary objective of offering a caring foster home for orphaned elephants of whom, most were babies. It was to release these orphans to the wild, upon their growth. Today, it has weaned away from that objective and has instead become a centre for breeding of elephants in captivity.  It was to be the conscience-point of support of caring humans for the animal in the midst of the then emerging, human-elephant conflict. The transit home for elephants at Uda Walawa was also set up with the same objective.

Today, the Pinnawela orphanage has turned to be a bustling tourist attraction where ‘showing the elephants off’ has overridden the feel, caring hard-work and commitment of those in charge of the elephants. The recent fiasco of the death of Neelagiri, supposedly at the hands of an angry mahout is testimony to what can go wrong in such circumstances. While the incomes earned from tourism can be used to support even better care for the animals, haphazard development and the ‘dog eat dog’ type of competition around by restaurateurs, shop-keepers and other ‘fast-buck-earners’ has created an environment, which takes a good portion of the humane element of the facility away.

What we must remember is that what visitors to Pinnawela, (both local and foreign) value most, is the underlying purpose of its caring for the orphaned elephants and not so much the glitter or the glamour of its surrounds. This will be true of the Uda Walawa transit facility too.

In the elephant-tourism story, Sri Lanka can indeed turn a new leaf. We do not need to follow the bad examples of other countries where respect for animals and caring comes in lesser proportions than it is here among us.

With a rich backdrop of a heritage as the country that established the world’s first ever wild life park by a Royal decree of King Devanampiyatissa as far back as the 3^rd century BC, we could establish our unique selling proposition in the area of elephant-tourism relationship not as a destination that offers elephant rides but as one that cares and nurtures its elephants with love and affection. I venture to propose that such positioning will bring Sri Lanka tourism, much more yield and benefit than the few dollars earned through inflicting pain on these majestic yet hapless giants.

I am encouraged that we have occasion now to shift our focus on wildlife away from that on the land to that of the oceans. It is a welcome development that upon the end of our security restrictions on the waters around, we are now able to promote activities such as whale and dolphin watching. These new ventures should be thought of as a way to release pressure placed on our elephants and other wildlife and not merely as another lucrative source of making fast bucks.

As a destination that has so much in such a small space, Sri Lanka can be compared to one big natural theme park. We do not need to create superficial experiences or events to stand tall among other destinations or in competing with them. Our many cultural and religious festivals/events, village ‘polas’ or trading fairs, traditional craft-villages, heritage sites, gardens and wild-life parks, virtually un-spoilt serene beaches, fishing communities and rural lifestyles, all offer unique and exotic sensual experiences to visitors to this land. 

What we need, is to first get the basics right of these opportunities. These include defining how they should be managed, ensuring their conservation, facilitating  comfortable movement by road/water and air as may be required, safety of visitors at all locations, provision of facilities such as toilets and comfort centres, access to good interpretation and information facilities, quality guiding services, descriptive location signage in language versions including how visitors are expected to behave, an environment free of hassle from touts offering socially unacceptable services and a posse of well-trained service personnel at all levels of operation. 

In a recent contribution to a newspaper, author/activist Aditha Dissanayake wrote “In his life and death may Neelagiri be an ambassador for all the other orphans like him who are “rescued” from one tragic situation only to end up in an even more tragic, pseudo-sanctuary. Neelagiri, may your death pave the way to a better life for your kinsmen. May all that pain have not been in vain”. I believe that those of you in tourism can be catalytic in ensuring that Pinnawela or Uda Walawa does not become  ‘pseudo-sanctuaries’ as she presented it.

As was said earlier the founder fathers of the facility intended it to be the conscience-point of support for Sri Lanka in her sad take on the human-elephant conflict. As Aditha reminded us of Julian Huxley’s words in her conclusion “We humans define ourselves by the ways in which we treat animals”.

Let those in tourism step in to make good that defining, joining hands with all caring Sri Lankans.

Elephants at Uda Walawe National Park
A shared Google image

 

 

Trees for Tourism - Out of the Box 30

By Renton de Alwis

I read yesterday about a peacetime revision of UK’s travel advisory to Sri Lanka. They warn visitors to our land from theirs, about the possibility of demonstrations against the UK and to avoid being in such places. It is their government’s responsibility to warn her citizens, even though it will be a negative on the perception of visitors who plan to visit us. I also read about the most absurd statements made by the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu demanding that the Kachchthive Island be taken away from us and that our cricketers should not be playing in the IPL.

The most respected Ex President of India Prof. Abdul Kalam once made a speech and I quoted from it in my November 2010 article in the ‘Daily Financial Timers, Sri Lanka’, which is reproduced here. I am of the view that what he told the Indians then, to be very valid for us Sri Lankans now. It is true that we have a lot that is wrong happening in our midst in the sphere of our governance, just like he says it is in India. It is equally true that there is so much we can as individuals do, to make things right in our society as a whole. It only when we are strong and morally sound as a people and society, that we will be able to withstand and overcome the threats that we face as a nation.

Like a tree that stands tall to give shelter, rain, food and life, each of us have our role to play to make things better in this land of ours. We can then be the effective lesson for some of those in the Diaspora, who live away, cocooned in their adopted lands, seeking to teach us ‘lessons’.  

A speech that India’s former President Dr. Abdul Kalam made on the Indian conscience, when he was still President, was widely circulated here in Sri Lanka too. What he, in essence said to Indians at large, was that they should resist being critical of what is wrong about their Motherland, focus on what is positive and great about her, taking-on assertive action as individual citizens, to support her efforts. We all read it with much interest and even forwarded it to our friends on mail lists. But then most of us got on once again, to our favourite pass time, of criticising everything and everyone around us, about our own nation.

“Our excuse?” Dr. Kalam said, taking what may seem to be mundane, but one that is to do with core societal values, is that everyone thinks "It's the whole system which has to change.” Referring to the Indian system of seeking dowries for marriage he went on to say that the problem was that each thought…. “how will it matter if I alone forego my sons' rights to a dowry" and went on to question “So who's going to change the system? What does a system consist of? Very conveniently for us it consists of our neighbors, other households, other cities, other communities and the government, but definitely not ME and YOU. When it comes to us actually making a positive contribution to the system we lock ourselves along with our families into a safe cocoon and look into the distance at countries far away and wait for a Mr. Clean to come along & work miracles for us with a majestic sweep of his hand. Or we leave the country and run away…. Everybody is out to abuse and rape the country. Nobody thinks of feeding the system. Our conscience is mortgaged to money” he said.

We talk about waste of resources and the state holding ‘thamashas’ and organise the most luxurious weddings for our own kin, or hold glitzy corporate events when more austere options are available. We talk about national reconciliation but do not take the trouble on our own to learn to speak and work in each other’s languages. We talk about corruption, and are the first to give ‘Santhosams’ to politicians and officials to get that tender approved or a contract secured. We talk about fair play and fair policies and are the first to meet with politicians and officials to get them to deviate from the rules for our own benefit. The list is long and the need is not to harp on it, but to get into action to correct them as Me and YOU. As Dr. Kalam pointed out and we all would agree, it is the only way possible for us to progress to realise our dream for our nation, where reconciliation, national unity, lasting peace and balanced social and economic development will be our priority.   

With that as a preamble, and noting that there is so much more that needs to be done individually and collectively to get there, let us look at the opportunities we have in tourism today. No more do we have the threat of terrorism and most obstacles that prevented visitors from coming over to Sri Lanka are now out of the way. The government has placed tourism as a key pillar industry in its future development agenda and is supporting its sustainable growth. Infrastructure such as roads, railways, waterways, ports and airports are being developed and the East and the North is slowly regaining its lost potency. The budget proposals provided the much sought after relief of tax waivers for the import of transport vehicles for tourists and tourist sites are being developed with basic facilities such as toilets, safety features and signage etc added on. What was so far the unregulated and dubious activity of gaming, has now been brought under regulation and plans for it to be developed within integrated resorts, is being discussed. Other resort projects, community tourism initiatives and a greater involvement of the public at large in tourism, is encouraged.

In a somewhat gloomy global economic environment, Sri Lanka is able to register reasonable incremental growth on its visitor arrivals and the approach taken is one of  stable growth than playing ‘fast catch-up on lost time’ as most had envisaged. No more is there talk about the targets of many millions and the focus is on yield, quality and plugging forex leakages. In my considered opinion, this is healthy. I want my readers to note, that my views do not come loaded with the thinking of any affiliation to persons, a group, camp, party or colour.

A few years ago, Sri Lanka made a global first, when it declared its intent to become an “Earth Lung”. What it sought was for the destination to become carbon neutral by the year 2020. Although the idea gained traction internationally, locally it’s time had not yet come, for most of our industry pundits, saw it as an idea that should be placed on the back-burner for there were more burning ‘bread and butter’ issues they had to resolve. Although, the recent initiatives of the government of planting over a million trees within a few minutes in celebration of our Head of State’s assumption of duties on a second term was not a direct action related to that envisaged by the ‘Earth Lung’ concept, to me it is a huge initiative that our tourism industry should take advantage of, on its product development and promotion front.

The world of tourism today is hurt by taxes imposed at conventional generating market countries for offsetting climate change and global warming. Our consumers, at the upper and mid-end have become more and more aware and conscious of the need to off set the carbon emissions they generate while traveling. Most will have the will, to pay a premium at destinations that seek to be carbon clean and also place those that do take theses initiatives seriously, on top of their destination choices.

With state patronage at the highest level for nation-wide efforts at creating green canopies all around this country, our tourism industry has an excellent opportunity to ride the crest of the wave for its own healthy development. Trees are never enough. More and more of them will mean more and more CO2 offsets and there will be some deforestation and denudation that will take place. Sans only complaining about those,  the industry should now take it upon itself, to make the initiative taken by the government to join in big, with its own initiatives at planting more and more trees and taking on more and more programmes that will help Sri Lanka be a ‘lung’, it can be for Mother Earth.

As Dr. Kalam said this should not be a ‘mortgaging our conscience for money’. It must be because ‘Trees for Tourism’ can make good economic sense, support Sri Lanka as a sustainable tourist destination, while contributing genuinely towards efforts at making our planet a healthier and safer place for us and future generations to live in.   

   

 

   

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Random thoughts on the future of tourism business - Out of the Box 29

By Renton de Alwis

On this Poya morning,this is a repostof  an article I wrote in November , 2010 for the ‘Daily Financial Times, Sri Lanka’ on some home truths like Deborah Westphal, Managing Partner of Toffler Associates (TA)  said “…the future requires whole new baselines” relating them to the business of tourism.

When teaching the first lessons in conventional marketing and sales, the story of the two salespersons sent to Africa was always told. The boss of a multinational shoe company sent two sales persons to several countries on the African continent to assess the potential for selling shoes there. One returned to report;”not many wore shoes there and there is no market potential for us” while the other reported “not many wear shoes there and the potential for us is immense”.

Now, there are other stories told to illustrate the same half-full, half-empty views of opportunity seekers and many concepts have emerged on how to ‘exploit’ markets. Yet, most conventional marketers are trained to look at where market potential exists. And market potential is defined as, where there is purchasing power. The idea is to ‘milk’ these markets, often called ‘sacred cows’, where higher yields and higher volume sales are both thought, to exist.

The feelings of guilt, such market exploitation has brought about and the awakening of a new social conscience among consumers, as a result of the realities of denudation of natural resources and the limits to growth placed therein, have now brought about the fringe concept of social responsibility (CSR) into the corporate world. In the context of tourism, this will mean a stronger emphasis on more responsible community-based activities, where benefits to people as stakeholders will be emphasised.

I recollect how, early last year, I engaged a professor at a branch of leading European business school located in Singapore. He was questioning the wisdom of the Harvard Oath, where each of the Harvard Business School graduates had to, among other things pledge that it was their responsibility, as future corporate leaders, to think of the well-being of society at large. The Professor at the rival school was arguing that corporate leaders should not have responsibility to society at large and that they only had to be responsible to their owners and shareholders. In response, I argued that, since business is conducted in a natural and a socio-cultural environment, no one can call oneself a corporate leader or will have the moral or ethical right to be in business, unless they had a deep concern for the well-being of that environment.

All these reflected in my mind, when I read a recent interview published in the travel journal ETN with Deborah Westphal, Managing Partner of Toffler Associates (TA). TA is an organization researching future trends affecting humankind founded as take-off, of the work of futurist Alvin Toffler. Westphal and TA are touted as being an outfit that ‘gets it right’ more often than not. Dr. Elinor Garely, who interviewed Westphal at the recently concluded World Travel Market in London, had this to say of the current mood of the global travel and tourism industry.

“Optimists crowded the recent London trade show, while buyers and sellers convinced each other that the worst was over and consumers were tired of couch-sitting and ready to be x-rayed and body-scanned at airports, enjoy sardine-like comfort in mini-sized airline seats while enjoying the slightly salty taste of nuked cuisine that is priced only slightly higher than a gourmet land-based restaurant”.

She added “assurances include promises that civil unrest has been negotiated away, terrorists have found new hobbies, bed-bugs have been corralled and happily breeding in a remote undisclosed location and that in spite of slips on unpaved roads, and falls from faulty hotel balcony railings, regardless of the fact that the number of unemployed almost exceeds the US national debt, the world weather conditions (from volcanoes and hurricane to earth quakes and cyclones) are under the control of the scientists, global diseases (including the spread of cholera from Haiti and bird flu from Asia) are cured with injections of various chemicals, and the decline of the dollar and the yen is purely an economic phenomenon and not worth sleepless nights, the truth may be that the world is itching to explore new horizons and eagerly heading for every destination that has an airport, taxi, hotel, restaurant, spa, and swimming pool”.

She quoted Westphal as saying that “Change is hard” and that current decisions are based on rules and assumption models that are historical while, “…the future requires whole new baselines” that cannot be found in textbooks. According to Westphal the “early adopters” are developing and/or using products/services that are not currently available for public consumption. This same group has determined that the old ways are not working and are actively “…opening apertures that encourage cognitively different thinking,” that enables a new way to connect the dots.

According to her, the future travel executive will need to possess multi-skills and “will come with experience in anthropology, geography, and multinational businesses if they are to understand the industry; the dots they are connecting will not be in the same format as before. These executives will have to look beyond trends, if they are to be useful to their organizations. For example, Richard Branson’s’ focus on space travel and the convergence of hospitality, healthcare and food industries with links between western businesses and eastern medicine” will form the palettes of their planning tools.

For us in Sri Lanka, when we take on a new era and fresh initiatives in tourism, there is much food for thought here. We could very well take on tourism development models that engulf the changes envisaged of the future now, so we could be ahead of the pack and be leading the way for a different and desirable future. 

 

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Building Brand Sri Lanka - Out of the Box 28

By Renton de Alwis

 

Written in October, 2010 for the 'Daily Financial Times. Sri Lanka', I feel these thoughts are still valid today and repost it for your critical review.

 

 

In the recent past I have seen and read several articles, conceptual papers and heard many opinions and views on Branding our nation and her offerings. Some of it was in relation to tourism promotion, while others were more generic, referring to overall nation branding. There were also many views expressed on the rights and wrongs of branding strategies and taglines, in reference to tourism promotion. Some suggested that key sectors of activity such as tourism, cricket and tea be used for building of ‘Brand Sri Lanka’.

These are days branding and ‘brands’ receive more recognition than they sometimes deserve. Some have been brands recognised at awards and had thereafter faded away into oblivion, raising the pertinent question “Were they indeed brands?”

That takes us to the differentiation between ‘being a brand’ and ‘making a name’. Making a name connotes making it any which way, while being a brand is uniquely a one-way-street. We know of many who had made a name for themselves as cheats, thugs, drug traffickers or comic-boasts. But they were never ever to be associated with building nation brands. They only add a negative to the process. What David Ogilvy once said about branding is worthy of reflection here “Any damn fool can put on a deal, but it takes genius, faith and perseverance to create a brand”.

Perception and reality are, in my mind, two key concepts that we must keep in the back of our minds, when we talk about building brands. To me establishing a brand’s character and personality leading to recognition and loyalty, is all about working consistently and hard at achieving the highest possible standard of quality and integrity in whatever is being done. This accounts for ensuring unwavering and sustained delivery of that quality and relates both to the real and perceived aspects of that brand, with primary emphasis on the real. Brand character and personality must never be compromised with attempts at seeking to establish perception through promotion. The key word here is believability.   

Mahatma Gandhi, Mother Theresa, Nelson Mandela, Murali, Japan, Singapore, Switzerland, Costa Rica, Microsoft, IBM, Volks-Wagon, Dilma, Munchi and DSI, are some brands that I place on top of my mind, when I perceive real brands of men, women, nations or products.

One unifying characteristic about all of them is that they have all have worked passionately hard at what they do, under much duress and achieved a level of quality that is unmatched, not only for the brand itself, but for society at large. It has been consistent, sustained effort and attention to detail that has won them that recognition. Integrity, vision-driven leadership and sincerity in seeking to be differentiated, have been hall-mark features of their character and positioning. Some have not overtly sought to be branded, but have become brands nevertheless.   

My appeal to those involved in being in the driving or side seats of building Brand Sri Lanka, is not to be tied down by dogma of management gurus, business school concepts or theories of what makes brands or what they ought to be.

Like philosopher, speaker, writer Jiddu Krishnamurti said ‘The mind must be empty for us to be able to think clearly’. This is how I would imagine our thinking on branding of Sri Lanka should be. We must look at the very basics of being real and attaining the highest possible standards in delivering quality in whatever we do. Given the unique position we are in, after defeating a brute terrorist force, we must now venture to reinvent ourselves. It is thus, about our nation’s very soul and her conscience.

Like our President heard on his recent visit to the USA, from the successful Houston based Sri Lankan Tamil immigration lawyer George Willy, Sri Lanka needs to follow the Buddhist principles of compassion, truth, and justice and his repeated concluding appeal to the President was  “Your Excellency, return us to Paradise… Return us to Paradise”. That indeed is the vision that needs to drive building of Brand Sri Lanka.

Lawyer Willy may not have known that our President had on several occasions earlier had articulated the need and desire to unify Sri Lanka’s twenty million people as one family. One instance is the speech he made in Sinhala and Tamil to the children of Sri Lanka at a recent ‘Mother Sri Lanka’ programme presentation. It is sad that many in our midst do not or choose not to, see, hear or accept that there is genuine effort here, away from the political rhetoric and the dire need to guard against opportunistic opposition.

Our nation’s brand builders need to realise that tourism, cricket, tea or any other such business activity cannot on their own, build Brand Sri Lanka. These together with all else, must reflect the integrity, quality and consistency in the practice of the very core values that goes into our nation’s brand structure, character and personality. 

Contrary to what many think and feel, there is a slow but steady process of instilling the right values, happening at the grass-roots level in our society now. As someone who follows what is happening in rural Sri Lanka and on the vernacular media, I observe that there is change for the better taking place. Lest, I be misunderstood, I am not implying that all is well. We as a nation is far from being ready, to take a believable brand character proposition to the world at large.

Building a nation brand that is held together on a strong set of fundamental values that radiate good clean leadership, integrity, transparency, compassion, truth and justice is to be paved on a hard road ahead. There is lot more work that needs to be done both individually and collectively by all of us, before we can think about being confident in singing its song. 

 

   

Pic credit: self                                                                                                                                                                     

Get real … be the wonder - Out of the Box 27

By Renton de Alwis


I was happy read of the resolution of the issue of tour guide accommodation through the intervention of policy makers in tourism. Earlier, in most instances, tour guide lecturers who accompanied tour groups were not provided comfortable accommodation, in spite of stipulations made that they should be treated well.  They often are that mirror through which our visitors see our riches. A tired sleepless tour guide lecturer would not be in a position to play that important role and thus, the rationale for them to have good comfortable accommodation at hotels where their visitors stay.

As much as our tour guide lecturers have rights, they have huge responsibilities too. They need to work in getting the negative practises that are harmful to our tourism done with. Today’s repost of a column I wrote for the ‘Daily Financial Times, Sri Lanka’ in October 2010, is an attempt I made to focus on this issue as it existed then and still exists in devious ways.

 

It was a friendly tour guide lecturer, who shared with me a few years ago, some stark details of the nature of the commission structure that prevails within our tourism industry. From the time a tour is undertaken by a tour operating company, several layers of commissions are built on the informal pricing equation associated with that tour, he said. It often begins at the company’s tour desk (sans some exceptions), determining where the stops on the tour should be. The meals, shopping for gems and jewellery, handicrafts, visits to spice gardens, clothing purchases, elephant rides, safari rides, photographs with mahouts, it’s all worked out and laid before the accompanying tour guide. According to him, the tour operators who hire their services, have agreements with these entities and even have taken security deposits, some exceeding millions of rupees. In other words, it’s an institutionalised system in place. The structure of commission sharing on each purchase or service apparently involves several people along the way. The driver, the guide, tour assistant and others along the way, given the nature of the product or service bought. 

Apart from not having the choice to visit or shop at their own will, the visitor ends up paying a cool 60% on top of the market value of that product or service, he claimed. I further verified and found it to be fact. These indeed are charges beyond the real economic value plus the profit margin of the good or service that is purchased. Upon the return from a tour, the first question asked from the guide, he said was “how much commission was made?” and not “if the guests were happy with the tour?”  I often raised this issue with leaders of the tourism industry and the answers were always “These are bad times. We are too many, chasing too few tourists” or “It’s not only in Sri Lanka, this is the practise everywhere else” or “We all need to survive and let them earn those extra bucks”.

Please don’t get me wrong. I am all for people in tourism earning the extra bucks. In fact all good tourism must be good profitable business for all involved and it must benefit communities and the people at large. But that does not mean, making it through what I would call an almost vulgar practice of gross over-charging, preventing the freedom of choice of the visitors themselves. On the flip side, this practice also prevents communities at large from benefiting from incomes generated, from tourism operations taking place in their own back-yards.

Now the scenario has changed. We are no longer “too many operators, chasing too few tourists”. The arrivals are increasing, thanks to the ending of the terrorist menace and Sri Lanka is fast becoming a much sought after visitor destination. It is now our opportunity to shun ‘bad time, bad practises’ and take on ‘all time, good practices’. It is our opportunity to be truly the wonder of Asia, with operations based on integrity and honesty within our tourism domain.

We often complain about what is wrong around us with our society at large; bribery, corruption, deception etc. but within the bounds of our own industry, we tend to be ones who encourage such practices, through our own modus operandi. Tourism is an industry with great potential. An industry that can promote understanding between people, be a catalyst for peace and be an activity where sharing and caring takes pride of place.

Our visitors given the expectations they have of our caring ways, our cultural heritage and the smiling faces, deserve better than to be taken for a good old ride, when they purchase a gem, an item of handicraft, herbal oil or clothing. They deserve to get true value for their money. The formal price they have paid for their stay, modes of transport, visits to places and for decent entertainment must adequately include margins of value to bring in a reasonable yield for the operators, their service providers and the communities that participate in the activity.

The key operational element here should be transparency. The tour elements, operated by a company or an individual, must be totally transparent with indicative charges clearly laid out. I am of the firm view that the long-term impact of such a transparent operation will many times offset, over the short term ill-gotten gains made through hidden commission structures.

There are several other destinations that provide guidelines on pricing and on service charges to serve as the basis for such transparency. Added personalised services and service charges are the norm, and as long as the visitor is aware of what they are, and /or are making payments of gratuity only for exceptional service, that should be the way we ought to go.  

Good times need not see a continuation of bad-time practises. Good times can be used as an opportunity for us all to get real and show the rest of the world that Sri Lanka’s tourism is not only about showing off the island’s natural beauty, cultural heritage and the other many wonders we possess. We must show that we are truly a nation of smiling people. Smiling for we truly care to share what we possess with our visitors, with a deep-seated sense of integrity and sincerity.

That then will enable us to deliver on the promise of being the true wonder destination of Asia.

 

 

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Tourism and terrorism: What’s in common? - Out of the Box 26

By Renton de Alwis

There is potent power in tourism to avert some of the causes for terrorism. That indeed is a strong statement and my attempt in this column I wrote in the first week of October, 2010 for the ‘Daily Financial Times, Sri Lanka’ was to explore the relationship between these two phenomena. For us in Sri Lanka there are many lessons to learn and there is the definite need to ensure that we wipe out all the causes that cause terrorism to raise its ugly head.   

 

Just this week, the US and UK governments issued warnings for its citizens not to travel within Europe. Last month the Eiffel tower was closed for visitors for there was a threat of a terrorist attack. Many a time air planes come circling back after take-off, for a mystery caller had said there is a bomb on board. Panic sets in, crisis management plans are put to action, airports are closed, security is tightened, shoes are removed, belts taken off and body searches are made.

All studies point to the fact that terrorism is the single most negative phenomenon to impact on tourism ever. Be it in Egypt, Bali, Colombia, Jordon, Thailand, Kenya, Sri Lanka, Ireland, Mumbai, New York, Paris or London, terrorism is a sure dampener on the movement of travel. It prevents nations and people from realising the many socio-economic opportunities travel and tourism offers.   

Up until 9/11 and its impact on the world, only some nations were singled out as terrorist hotspots and it was more or less an issue of travel warnings to those destinations that prevailed. With 9/11 and the realisation that terrorism had deeper roots than issues touching on a few racial groups or ‘freedom fighters’, the face of the whole equation changed.

There were consistent efforts by organisations such as the UNWTO, WTTC, ESCAP and PATA within earlier decades to work towards having visa restrictions eased to facilitate better movement of travellers around the world. Huge progress was seen in this area at the time, except in some countries where internal terrorist threats were at a peak.  The incident of 9/11 changed all of that too and today we are witnessing a reversal of that trend and even a selective process of the application of visa and other travel movement restrictions, together with more and more frequent calls for action on curbing terrorism.

Nothing in this is new to us Sri Lankans. For nearly thirty years we suffered this same fate. We had our airport attacked and airplanes destroyed on the tarmac, explosions close to hotels, lives lost, visas being imposed for our travel by almost every country in the world.  We had an overall down on visitor arrivals with tourism fighting a constant battle with terrorism.

Today, thankfully we have overcome those threats within this nation and are gearing to seek ways to establish a lasting peace to reap the fruits of a growing tourism.

We have as a nation, upon that beating now realised that establishing that elusive lasting peace and keeping possible terrorist threats from raising its ugly head again, is indeed about generating understanding between people, respecting each other, appreciating our different and diverse ways, providing social and economic opportunities, while treating each other with dignity and honour. 

That then takes me to the question I raised on my column title. What’s common about tourism and terrorism? Indeed they are both similar sounding terms, yet having meaning as diverse as anything we know to be, can be. Tourism is a movement of people across seas and lands, their cultures and heritage, about creating bondages and friendships to generate better human understanding. It is about education and learning to be tolerant of each other. It is a movement that facilitates the appreciation of differences in each other’s way of doing things, faiths and beliefs and contributing to the greater good of people.

 

Terrorism, on the other hand is about using destructive methods to achieve an end. An end desired by a group of people who believe, that using weapons of terror is the only way to gaining recognition and focus on an issue. It is about generating chaos and mayhem and causes disunity and disintegration of societies and people.

Both tourism and terrorism have at the very base of its operation aspects that warrant and demand the attention of all of human kind. In tourism, it is to ensure that it brings positive aspects of its delivery as intended and do not focus on merely the ‘having a good time’ aspects, at cost to the communities ands societies it operates in. Terrorism on the other hand reflects what is basically faulty in mankind’s attempt at seeking more at the expense of those who have little or no access to resources, rights or opportunities. It also reflects the intolerance of others’ ways that prevail and makes a violent call for its correction.

 

Tourism has most of the ingredients needed to address the causes of what, has led to the creation of terrorism. It is about peace, about greater understanding and appreciation, about tolerance and at its very best, about sharing and caring. Together with initiatives such as seeing a world where religious and cultural conflicts are minimal, weapons of mass destruction or weapons of any sort are taken away from the arsenal of all nations; powerful, emerging or otherwise, tourism has the potential of making its mark in building a better world.

 

Sri Lanka made a mark on the world at large, as a nation that defeated one of the most vicious terrorist groups in the world with much sacrifice and cost. Now it is the same nation that can demonstrate, that it is doing its’ all to address terrorisms’ root causes. We do have the resolve but have a long way to go down that road. Tourism is a strong pillar that is used to support our efforts and therein, we may find the answers to heal old wounds, to sooth hurt and to learn of ways to find unity within our diversity.

 

For both tourism and terrorism, desired outcomes will depend not on words alone but on solid, committed action by all, taken on with a strong and well-focussed will to succeed.

 

 

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The many faces of tourism - Out of the Box 25

By Renton de Alwis

 

We need to think different if we need to save our heritage and natural resources. This column written in September 2010 was an attempt to show an approach away from conventional thought to ensure that we achieve the objectives of earning fast returns and saving our resources from destruction. A repost from ‘Daily Financial Times, Sri Lanka’.

 

Last week my column was about my experience in walking through casinos in Macau (SAR) of China and of the concept of integrated resorts. I shared with readers how integrated resorts were used to contain hundreds of thousands of people in a world of dreams, within an artificially created environment. I had several readers sending me e-mails commenting on what they thought of the proposition I was making. Most said they never thought that one could contain such large numbers of visitors within buildings and wanted to study more of the concept. 

One caught my attention in particular, for that reader was upset with the thought that, I was promoting casinos for Sri Lanka. I did respond to him firmly stating that, it is not my intent and thought it would be good for me to make a clarification today, lest I be misunderstood.

What I did not tell him though is that, there is a lot of hypocrisy in the way in which we think about gaming. Most of those who say that casinos are not to be, forget that most Sri Lankan families each evening sit together in front of their TV screens, to play the various lottery games available. Within the city of Colombo, even in close proximity to schools, casinos carry on business as usual.

The proposition I make is that we contain all of that in a single area, to achieve the targets set for tourism while making rapid ROI, containing the need to ‘develop’ facilities all around the country, for the millions of visitors, we expect to have. It is indeed a pragmatic plea for conserving our valuable bio-diversity rich natural and culturally vibrant heritage resources, for the longer term. What I learnt as a conservation economist; is that the best way to conserve a threatened resource, is by providing an alternative to replace it.  

On a recent visit to Pollonnaruwa, we observed how the old bricks at several heritage sites were showing signs of wear, as a result of over-visitation to those particular areas. Some were even seen to be disintegrating. Each of our heritage sites as well as our cultural resources has a limit or a carrying capacity of what it can take, without causing irreparable damage to its form and content.     

As I have maintained through out my career in this industry, tourism is a two-edged word. In the wrong hands and ill-managed, tourism can do much damage to a country’s natural, cultural and human resources. Similarly, when well-managed, tourism can be a most potent and productive endeavour contributing to uplift the lives of communities, providing employment, incomes, education, enriching local cultures and contribute towards conservation of resources.

This year Sri Lanka expects to have nearly 700,000 visitors. In about half a decade, the number is to reach 2.5 million according to our tourism planners. A friend of mine exclaimed with a “But that’s half our population?” in response to a politician’s claim that tourism will need 10 million people to service its needs in the future. 

It is most unfortunate that many who talk about tourism or even get involved in its planning and management have not been exposed adequately to its manifold faces. They know only of a few popular models and continue attempts to replant some of them on our domain. Within Sri Lanka, there are of course exceptions to this rule. One well known contributor is of course, architect guru Late Geoffrey Bawa. The innovative spirit, creativity and the local feel he brought to our hotel and resort architecture stands testimony to his great contribution to tourism. To him a hotel was not just another well designed building, but a platform to create a holistic visitor experience.

I have heard of an instance when he chased away a rock music group that was about to perform in the lobby of the Light House Hotel in Galle, for that was not to be the mood he had envisaged for his creation. Later, the amplified sounds were replaced with mellow melodies of a bamboo flute. 

I also know of an enlightened tourism entrepreneur, who prior to designing a tourist hotel took a tour studying best practices at destinations such as Bali, Chiang Mai, Sarawak and the like. He spent weeks at each, learning of the why and the how of those experiences and the facility he developed is today a hit with high-end visitors as well as being an award winner.

Within tourism’s many faces we could also explore many options. Home stay based resorts, boat-houses, soft and hard adventure, creating dream experiences, opportunities for volunteering, cultural interactions, mega-integrated resorts, eco-lodges, niche developments, tea-trails, ancient heritage explorations, colonial heritage explorations, wildlife explorations, study of elephants, ornithology explorations, sea mammal explorations, sailing and angling explorations … the list can be long and the faces are many. 

 

  

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It’s all on your palm - Out of the Box 24

By Renton de Alwis

Info-communication technology has brought the world of knowledge exploration to the top of our palms today. It has empowered the user to be much more informed and be more sensitive to the environments of the places they visit. It indeed is a double-edged sword and need be used by both generator of content and the receiver in a responsible manner. I sought to explore its potential for creating awareness of tourism offers and the sharing of travel experiences, in this column I wrote for the ‘Daily Financial Times, Sri Lanka’ in September, 2010.

It’s true that it’s written on your palm. In the old days, it was the palm-reader or the palmist that told you, on reading those unique lines, what the future holds for you. Part fun - part science - part creativity, the claim goes. Today, it’s that device on your palm that brings you the news as it happens, the time, the weather, market information, giving you directions to get to places, even bringing you vivid images of them, linking you with friends, with people you are yet to see or get to know, from anywhere in the world. You can move them, flip them, save them for recall or even dump them, when you don’t need them.

Not all of us in Sri Lanka have them yet, but our customers are fast getting into the act. Soon, it will catch up with us. It is high-tech and high-touch, both at the same time.

Gone are the days when one had to carry loads of information in brochures or guide-books. Today there is increasing use of hand-held devices at heritage sites, museums and other places where unique experiences unfold. When learning is an important part of the sensory experience, the functionality of the device becomes more meaningful.

Until a few years ago, these were limited to museums and were bulky devices with equally bulky ear-phones worn on your head. But today, they are smaller and the amount of information stored is significant. Most have moved to create intense sensory experiences taking travellers back in time, place and space with dramatic sound bites, music and even visual material used in its creation. A visit to a site today can become a total emersion sensory experience. Some more enlightened tour operators and tour guides are actively encouraging travellers to use applications such as tracking their location on Geo-sat imagery and using e-guides for the destination. They consider the tool as a complementary device to enrich the experience, rather than being in competition with the services they provide.

The devices range from proprietary sets given on loan at sites to dial-up facilities on your own mobile phone, i-phone or other interactive palm-top. Just the other day, I learnt that it was possible to use applications to access the Bible, the Koran or the Bhagwath Githa. The religious experience that was once limited to a place of worship, is now travelling with you, held lightly on your palm. On call 24 x 7 as they say. Predictions are that these will become even more experiential, meeting demand as they develop.

Most of it is open-source and is content developed not by experts but by people the likes of you, experience seeking travellers. I read about a travel company that gave the funds, a timeline and asked an independent writer couple, to determine where they wanted to go, what they wanted to do and bring stories of the experiences they had, back to the company. This was how they began their experiential travel business. I must repeat; it is high-tech, yet high touch.

Thereafter, they got their customers to tell their own stories of the experiences they had. These were on blogs and complete freedom was given to each of the customers to design their own dream experience. The only condition was that they had to be responsible and reasonable. It is interactivity at its best, made possible through the new info-communication tools we now posses. They come in all forms and sorts and evolve day by day.

According to several studies on tourism futures, there are more and more hand held devices coming in now, to make the travel experience richer and better. Destinations are encouraging travellers to write their stories about what unfolded for them while on holiday. Singapore, Malaysia and our own Sri Lanka Tourism, have called on travellers to blog-in their stories. Destination promoters have developed tag-lines that describe their destinations with close emotional ties with customers. ‘Your Singapore’ and ‘Touch your heart’ for Taiwan, are two current examples.

On another plain there is travel distribution happening on mobile devices. A threesome group of Greek university professors cite tourism as the first industry to use information technology in its applications. Dating back to the 1960’s tourism was using Computer Reservation Systems (CRS) and Global Distribution Systems (GDS), facilitating travel agents to book airline seats and packaged tours. Today, that has advanced to accessing on-line auctions of airline seats and hotel rooms, which are perishable.

We in Sri Lanka are now on the fast-track on info-communications development. The latest in technology is with us and the coverage is expanding. The speeds are growing. Our tourism can be a beneficiary, not only through providing connectivity. We need to be creative in its use and make our experiential offers be even better. It’s not all about palmtops and technology. We need to get the rest of it right.

It’s about getting the right balance in being high-tech, while retaining our high-touch.  

 

    

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