Tourism is one of the biggest foreign exchange earners for Sri Lanka and it could become the number one source of forex soon, if tourist arrivals keep on increasing. There has been an exponential growth in tourism since 2009 when the conflict ended, with many international magazines and newspapers recommending Sri Lanka as one of the best destinations in the world, right now.
There has also been a shift away from traditional inbound tourism markets such as Western Europe, to China and India. According to the Tourist Board statistics, the total number of tourist arrivals to Sri Lanka during July 2018 was 217,829. In comparison to July last year, there is a growth of 6 per cent when the arrivals were 205,482. The largest source market for tourists in July was India, followed by China and the United Kingdom. As at July 31, 1,382,476 tourists had visited Sri Lanka this year. This is a 13.7 per cent growth over 2017 when 1,215,926 tourists had visited the country during the same period.
incidents
One of the factors that tourists frequently cite for coming to Sri Lanka is the friendliness of the people and the general feeling of safety they experience. Indeed, even at the height of the conflict, no tourists were harmed or targeted for attacks. There have been a few unfortunate incidents from time to time, barring which tourists have been well taken care of. We must continue this track record.
It is important that we have institutional backing for protecting tourists. The ordinary Police can only do so much, burdened as they are with hundreds of other tasks from directing traffic to solving major crimes. The answer – a separate ‘Tourist Police’. Sri Lanka has been having a ‘Tourist Police’ for many decades, but they are thin on the ground where it matters most. Even in Colombo where most tourists spend a few days before heading out to other areas, I have not seen many Tourist Police personnel.
Now the Government has taken a policy decision to strengthen the Tourist Police, which is a great step forward. It will no doubt be welcomed by all inbound tour operators, hospitality providers and the tourists themselves. IGP Pujith Jayasundara has said, 25 new Tourist Police stations would be established across the country to ensure the safety of tourists.
The IGP made this assurance during a meeting held with the Chairman and senior officials of the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA) and the officers of the Tourist Police Division, at Police Headquarters in Colombo, recently.
The IGP also said, a new uniform would be introduced for the Tourist Police Division, allowing it to build more cordial relations with the tourists visiting Sri Lanka. This is a commendable move, as any tourist in distress would be able to immediately identify a tourist police officer on duty, nearby.
Wide publicity should be given to this new uniform on the Internet so that tourists have a clear idea what a Tourist Police officer would look like.
The new Police Stations will be constructed atthe instance of the SLTDA and strategically positioned covering all main tourist destinations. “Ensuring the safety of foreigners visiting Sri Lanka will be a top priority for the Police force,” the IGP said. Measures would be taken to give more training opportunities to officers attached to the Tourist Police Division.
The IGP has made another important observation. While all Tourist Police personnel will be able to converse in English, it may not be enough, given the number of tourists who cannot speak English well. Selected Tourist Police personnel should thus be given training in languages such as Chinese, Hindi, German and French. The languages spoken by each Tourist Police officer can be displayed via a lapel on the uniform. This will bring tourists and Tourist Police personnel closer. Some of them could also be sent overseas to observe how tourist police teams work in other countries.
Problems
Members of the Tourist Police Force must work closely with the Police, Security Forces, SLTDA, major hotels and other institutions involved in the Tourism sector. They must collectively identify problems and any acts of harassment faced by tourists in various parts of the country.
One such problem is the presence of unlicensed guides, touts and beggars at all major tourist spots, which is a great source of annoyance to tourists and sometimes even to the locals. This is a serious “turn-off” for many tourists who might even consider not coming to Sri Lanka again. The Police must take action on this issue in consultation with the SLTDA. The BIA also has its fair share of taxi touts who operate unauthorized taxis and three wheelers – there should be signs at the arrival lobby warning tourists against accepting rides from such dubious individuals who are known to dupe both tourists and locals alike.
Talking of taxis, the authorities deserve plaudits for launching the new “Tuk Tuk” branded three wheeler service aimed specifically at tourists. These drivers were trained at Government expense on how to deal with tourists in a courteous and professional manner. The initial batch of 150 drivers will soon be joined by others, not only in Colombo but also in Galle, Kandy, Dambulla and other cities. This training should be extended to the drivers of ride hailing services such as Uber, as well.
Many tourists rightly fear our traffic and roads, given the sheer lack of road discipline. Our rail service should thus be promoted abroad as a safe alternative to road travel.
Enjoy
Many countries such as Japan issue multi-day rail passes which can only be redeemed by visiting foreigners. Such a system would help tourists enjoy a holiday mostly using the railways. More awareness should also be created about the super luxury inter-city bus services too.
Today’s tourists are a savvy lot who do some research on the Internet before heading to a country of their choice. They already know it is not safe to carry large amounts of cash and wear expensive, flashy jewellery in any country lest thieves be attracted to those. It is also not advisable to move about in very crowded areas, which are haunted by expert pickpockets who can virtually vanish without a trace. Again, this applies to any country.
However, the presence of the Police and Tourist Police can deter anyone who harbours an intention of targeting a tourist for a petty crime. Sri Lanka is far better in this respect than many other countries where tourists are a prime target. We should improve on this favourable climate and the newly strengthened Tourist Police will no doubt help the authorities to achieve this goal.