The World Tourism day is a special day that represents the happy travel memories that all of us cherish very fondly. In fact, the majority of us create bucket lists of travel destinations to go to and things to do after reaching a certain desired destination. The World Tourism Day is celebrated on September 27 and it was declared by UNWTO (United Nations World Tourism Organization). UNWTO plays a major role in ensuring that this day is celebrated on a grand scale. Just as the whole world celebrates this day Sri Lanka also celebrates this. Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka’s Ministry of Tourism, Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA), Department of Trade Commerce and Tourism of Central Provincial Council has organised a 3-day programme under the theme of “Tourism and Rural Development” at Kandy in order to celebrate the World Tourism Day for 2020.
Tourism is considered as one of the biggest industries as it is the third largest export category in the world. Also, the industry grew by 5% in 2018 while reaching a milestone of 1.4 billion. Simultaneously, the export earnings have grown to USD 1.7 trillion. So now you can understand how colossal the industry is. Apart from the massive growth and substantial revenue, tourism also has other benefits on a national level. The following are the benefits it brings :
- Tourism creates many job opportunities.
- Tourism creates a massive number of low skilled jobs.
- Tourism helps to improve the infrastructure of a country as it helps to improve public transport, the road system, creates recreational places and so much more.
- Also, unlike any other industry tourism provides many job opportunities for women thus helping to empower them. It is proven that tourism provides many job opportunities for women as 60% of women are in the hotel sector.
Sri Lanka is also a country that prides itself on tourism as it is the 3rd largest export earner in the whole economy. Moreover, the tourism industry boosted the Sri Lankan economy as it helped to earn $4.3 billion in 2018 and also it contributed 4.9 % to the GDP as well. Out of the many tourists who arrive to Sri Lanka the majority are from :
- India
- UK
- China
- Germany
All these tourists visit the following travel sites more frequently :
- Mirissa
- Wilpattu National Park
- Yala National Park
- Horton Plains
And many more.
The above-mentioned numbers are achievements which a nation can be proud of, but now, hardly any nation can be proud of the growth, income and the contribution which tourism provides, thanks to the chaos which COVID 19 has created. COVID 19 has single-handedly handicapped many economies. Countries such as : Maldives, India, Pakistan and many more Asian and African countries heavily rely on tourism and these countries have been devastated by COVID 19 as well.
For many months countries have been badly battered and bruised by this infection but now they have managed to come up with strategies that help them to mitigate the impact to some extent thus enabling them to begin operations. The following are the common strategies which are been used :
- Governments waived off debts, provided cash grants and aided heavily impacted companies and industries in whichever they can.
- Revenue pooling structures by hotels: Hotels competing in the same segment and in the same district can pool in incomes and losses. But these have to be governed and audited by governments.
- Some countries are now opening up their economies enabling tourism to continue to some extent with precautionary measures. Many companies engaged in tourism are now using digital platforms and mechanisms more frequently to bring in more consumers. This type of behaviour suits the modern traveller as they more frequently research and book the travel destinations which they desire. Also, digitization to this extent encourages potential travellers to adopt a digital buyer behaviour
Countries such as Sri Lanka are barely digital when it comes to tourism. However, this is where companies such as : Discover.lk proves to be more than handy as they help to bridge the modern traveller to his / her digital world. effectively while maintaining safety as well. Discover.lk is a SilverStripe CMS (Content Management System) based website which has the functionality of a comprehensive booking system.