Challenges and Opportunities for Sustainable Coastal and Marine Tourism in Sri Lanka

The article highlights the importance of sustainable development in the tourism sector in Sri Lanka, particularly in the coastal and marine tourism areas. The author emphasizes the need to align the tourism policy with the satisfaction of four conditions: contented visitors, profitable enterprises, a nurtured environment, and engaged communities. The article also discusses the potential of Sri Lanka's coastal and marine tourism industry, which currently contributes significantly to the country's tourism income. The author suggests that Sri Lanka can further develop its tourism industry by targeting new growth markets, such as Australia, Africa, East Europe, and the Middle East. The article also mentions the challenges that Sri Lanka faces in developing its coastal and marine tourism sector and provides recommendations to address these challenges, such as improving access to the shoreline, focusing on community development, and providing a complete visitor experience.

Sri Lanka is endowed with a plethora of abundant and diverse coastal and marine resources, which possess significant potential for tourism. The country's coastal area, which spans approximately 1,000 miles, is extensively developed for tourism product creation. A staggering 75% of Sri Lanka's graded hotels and 80% of its hotel rooms are located in the coastal regions. The waters surrounding the coastline are teeming with valuable aquatic resources, boasting over 1,000 varieties of fish.

Given this world-class inventory of resources, Sri Lanka should have already claimed a significant share of the expanding global market for coastal and marine tourism, with vast potential for further growth. However, despite the comparatively high resource base, the earnings from coastal and marine tourism in Sri Lanka remain below their true potential. While the beach holiday in Sri Lanka is popular among predominantly Western European winter season tourists, as evidenced by high occupancies in beach-oriented hotels during winter, more can be done to further develop the industry.

 

Sustainable Tourism

Our tourism sector should grow sustainably, regardless of whether it is on shore, offshore, or inland. Therefore, we must focus on four conditions:

(1) Satisfied visitors

(2) Profitable enterprises

(3) A nurtured environment

(4) Engaged communities. We must align our entire tourism policy with these conditions.

 

Coastal and Marine Tourism

Coastal and marine tourism is a significant contributor to Sri Lanka's economy. Over 70% of Sri Lanka's tourism is concentrated along the west and east coasts, with coastal tourism generating an estimated two-thirds of the country's tourist income. While most of our business comes from West European and Asian markets, we need to develop a foothold in newer growth markets, such as Australia, Africa, East Europe, and the Middle East, for further growth.

 

New Tourism Segments

To understand what Sri Lanka can offer, we must re-segment our tourist arrivals. We have identified three groups: (1) urban tourists, (2) great escapers, and (3) culturally curious travelers. With our available resources, we can satisfy the needs of the last two groups, leveraging our comparative advantages. Coastal and marine activities, such as whale and dolphin watching, surfing, sailing, kayaking, and sport fishing, can be further developed to attract these groups.

 

Challenges

To improve our coastal tourism, we need to address three broad areas. Firstly, we need to improve access to our shoreline using existing infrastructure or new ways of working, such as sharing public resources with private enterprises. Secondly, we should focus not only on hard infrastructure but also on developing community support, which plays a key role in the visitor experience. Lastly, we should provide a complete visitor experience, including picturesque and welcoming towns and villages.