Tourism – the whole top tier are out to lunch – time for new blood

Why is it that in Sri Lanka, entry into any field is almost prohibited until one is just about to croak. It is the same with Tourism. With a fossil for a Minister, who puts his neighbor business tycoon (as if Harry does not have enough on his plate to sign every check in his mighty empire) in a senior Advisory role, and another Chum as senile as they go Paddy in another top position, and are deal making to determine who gets the lucrative account to “Advertise Brand Lanka” to the world.

Have any of you guys understood what the future of tourism is. Air B&B has rocked the hotel industry, such that every little guy with a decent home, and a UNIQUE SELLING POINT can skin the Hoteliers alive. So stop picking up on a market you don’t know anything about, and plan on putting those Multi Billion Budget in improving our local product NOT of the billionaires but of the small one USP product owner.

To give you an real example to illustrate my point, at Ella there are many homestay lodgings which are catching on a small community of bed and breakfasts are sprouting up. They are pretty disorganized but have stunning views and great location for hiking and trekking and even mountain bike riding. However it caters for all ages including families. These small business owners have no clue about the basics of what tourist expect, of course some are learning on a job, but are still a little slow on the uptake.

A great place to start are the reviews of the properties where people stay, and one can get an idea of how grossly out of touch our people are about why a tourist comes to such a beautiful location. I bet none of the above jokers mentioned on the first paragraph have even physically checked the web sites of these places, nor even the reviews of the visitors, the good and the bad!

NOISE is one of our main problems, and CLEANLINESS follows soon after that! We must educate our hosts, (owners of boutique type hotels also) that visitors prefer peace and quiet and not the sound emanating from the privte quarters of the owners or caretakers, who sometimes have little children crying and lot of loud music blaring. We are a race that does not care about others, being very insensitive. A case in point being the loudspeakers blaring out of mosques at the most inappropriate times as well as canned pirith from temples on awful loudspeaker systems that even turns off people who really love to listen to pirith. YOU GET MY POINT.

This correction will give you a satisfied customer who will recommend his friends and stay for longer, and btw these are people most concerned about the carbon footprint too! Will try to reduce environmental pollution on all fronts.