Tourism Sector

[yellow knifeTop contributor]

After analyzing few leading plantation companies and tourism related listed entities I like to compare the performance of these leading firms of respective field

First with profitability

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[yellow knifeTop contributor]

When tourism related leading entities making profits of above 2 billion, plantation is struggling to generate revenue above 2 billion mark..

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[yellow knifeTop contributor]

Out of leading hotels AHUN is continuously increasing revenue where AHPL is showing maturity in earning...

[LeonTop contributor]

Good eye opener. I have never in to a Hotel share so far.

[yellow knifeTop contributor]

There is one factor which still worries me in SL tourism...Let me first quote from annual report of AHUN

"
Sri Lanka's earning from tourism continued to grow at healthy pace increasing by 41% to USD 2.43 million in 2014. It is encouraging that this growth was supported by higher spending and increased duration of stay. the average spending per tourist rose to USD 160.8 per day in 2014 from USD 156.5 per day in 2013. According to the latest annual survey on tourist spending and duration of stay conducted by the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority. (SLTDA) . Meanwhile the average duration of stay per tourist increased to 9.9 days in 2014 compared to 8.6 days in 2013.

"


In many discussions it was highlighted that nowadays what SL attract is bag-packers. Even the fact that average spending per day at USD 160.8 is highlighted to prove the low level spenders coming as tourists..

But the same fact is highlighted as a positive upward trend by AHUN annual report and toursim as an industry enjoy better than plantation industry in SL..

Other than AHPL other leading entities enjoy Maldivian income as well..

[කිත්සිරි ද සිල්වාTop contributor]

Thanks YK.
Not looked at the sector seriously before, but this is like a wake up call.

[yellow knifeTop contributor]

Plantation Sector enjoy large lands of SL and some thanks to Golden Share of Treasury Secretary.. It is not surprising to see these large lands mixing with Tourism as in THE HERITAGE TEA FACTORY HOTEL of AHUN.N to get the best of both world...

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[yellow knifeTop contributor]

Two leading plantation related entrepreneurs ( who have successfully groomed their second generation into business)  have entered to tourism successfully..

Kegalle, Namun owning Dr Sena Yaddehige and team has invested in Hotel Sector and 5th largest share holder of AHPL

M.J. Fernando and team is more aggressively into tourism where they remain in top twenty list of AHPL, AHUN and the leading shareholder in THE FORTRESS..

[yellow knifeTop contributor]

However small single hotel units are risky

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[BackstageTop contributor]

Two leading plantation related entrepreneurs ( who have successfully groomed their second generation into business)  have entered to tourism successfully..

Kegalle, Namun owning Dr Sena Yaddehige and team has invested in Hotel Sector and 5th largest share holder of AHPL

M.J. Fernando and team is more aggressively into tourism where they remain in top twenty list of AHPL, AHUN and the leading shareholder in THE FORTRESS..

MJ also now own Cape Weligama.

[කිත්සිරි ද සිල්වාTop contributor]

Sri Lanka Association of Inbound Tour Operators (SLAITO) will organize the 6th Sancharaka Udawa 2016, the largest gathering of the local tourism industry during the month of May 2016.

The exhibition will showcase many small, medium and large enterprises and entrepreneurs of the tourism industry on a single platform, creating an opportunity to come together and make it known to those in the tourism sector.

The popularity of the event bears ample testimony to its success. This will be an ideal opportunity for those interested in the tourism industry, even students to get a first-hand understanding of what is available in the tourism industry.

Read more

[Hybrid]

Sri Lanka Association of Inbound Tour Operators (SLAITO) will organize the 6th Sancharaka Udawa 2016, the largest gathering of the local tourism industry during the month of May 2016.

The exhibition will showcase many small, medium and large enterprises and entrepreneurs of the tourism industry on a single platform, creating an opportunity to come together and make it known to those in the tourism sector.

The popularity of the event bears ample testimony to its success. This will be an ideal opportunity for those interested in the tourism industry, even students to get a first-hand understanding of what is available in the tourism industry.

Read more

Kith,

Who will be controlling all the stalls, advertising, programs and installations?

Is it done the same with the Gam Udawwa, and various other village programs done by the previous regime?

Who will get the cut for the rents, land, equipment etc?

[කිත්සිරි ද සිල්වාTop contributor]

Sri Lanka Association of Inbound Tour Operators (SLAITO).

Sri Lanka Association of Inbound Tour Operators (SLAITO) will organize the 6th Sancharaka Udawa 2016, the largest gathering of the local tourism industry during the month of May 2016.

The exhibition will showcase many small, medium and large enterprises and entrepreneurs of the tourism industry on a single platform, creating an opportunity to come together and make it known to those in the tourism sector.

The popularity of the event bears ample testimony to its success. This will be an ideal opportunity for those interested in the tourism industry, even students to get a first-hand understanding of what is available in the tourism industry.

Read more

Kith,

Who will be controlling all the stalls, advertising, programs and installations?

Is it done the same with the Gam Udawwa, and various other village programs done by the previous regime?

Who will get the cut for the rents, land, equipment etc?

[xmartTop contributor]

India, China, UK, Germany and France were the top five sources of tourist arrivals in July 2016, accounting for 52.1 per cent of total tourist
arrivals upto the month of July 2016

Improvement in the tourism industry

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tourist arrival

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June Q is the off season. but the next 2 quarters will be crowded and considering 1st half industry growth, we can expect this sector to perform well in coming quarters. be on alert!

[NIRMALSG]

Diplomats delve into tourism industry

UK calls for greater conservation, planning
EU suggests better connectivity, skills development, and building codes
Turkey highlights taxation, passport control, and need for public transport from BIA to Colombo
Netherlands cautions SL on competitiveness with regional markets
Malaysia commends plan to introduce liberal visa policy, brand building
Indonesia details efforts by their Govt. to increase awareness of tourism importance amongst locals


Drawing from their experiences, foreign diplomats from a range of countries last week recommended Sri Lanka focus on sustainable tourism, while improving on the areas of taxation, visa guidelines, skilled labour, air connectivity, public transportation, brand positioning, mindful construction and infrastructure development as key policies that the Government should focus on to develop tourism.

Last week’s Fireside Chat 2019 featured envoys from the United Kingdom, European Union, Netherlands, Switzerland, Canada, Turkey, China, Malaysia, Bangladesh and Indonesia. Out of the 10 diplomats, six shared their frank views to improve the already thriving tourism industry on a wide range of topics as to what they think is the best way forward for Sri Lanka.

The first-of-its-kind event was organised by the Daily FT, International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) Sri Lanka, and CIMA at Hilton Colombo on 19 March.

British High Commissioner to Sri Lanka James Dauris stressed that Sri Lanka should focus on sustainable tourism instead of sheer numbers.

“Sri Lanka is truly blessed with its natural beauty and heritage. I hear about the number of tourists regularly, but I think Sri Lanka needs to think hard between the numbers of tourists and tourist revenue — these are quite different things. The tourism policy going forward should think carefully in this regard about how to get this balanced, especially given the need to look after the natural environment, which makes this country so special,” he added.

Pointing out that the tourism sector has already seen substantial growth, European Union Delegation Deputy Head of Mission Thorsten Bargfrede said the potential for Sri Lanka was still very high compared to other countries in the region, while insisting that there is also a lot of room to improve in terms of road connectivity, construction and training of skilled labour.

“Planning is an important area. As tourism grows, there is a tendency to have unpleasant construction coming up everywhere, so we need to plan not to ruin the beauty of the island. A lot can go wrong if it is unplanned for quick money and you can end up with ugly buildings,” he said.

Noting that unplanned buildings are not yet happening, Bargfrede emphasised the need to be cautious. “Have special zones, be clear on what type of tourists you want to cater to,” he added.

He also said that improving skilled labour was critical for the growth of the tourism industry. “Training a waiter is as important as training a general manager of a hotel; so both service skills and management skills need to be improved. We need special training and systems that are aligned with the industry and work closely with businesses. Don’t forget vocational training sectors. You not only need top engineers, but you need electricians and plumbers, and so, skills need to go bottom-up,” Bargfrede stressed.

Netherlands Ambassador to Sri Lanka Joanne Doornewaard noted that there seems to be too many taxes in Sri Lanka.

“Sri Lanka is quite expensive. Tourists compare. Sri Lanka is expensive in comparison to countries like Thailand. A week in Sri Lanka would be priced as much as two to three weeks in Thailand. So, tourists may think twice about why they need to come here,” she pointed out.

Turkish Ambassador to Sri Lanka Tunca Özçuhadar emphasised that transit times between locations need to be shortened and public transport needs to be significantly improved. “Sri Lanka is positioned at a great location, which can be reached within three to four hours by 60% of the world’s population. To tap this huge potential, Sri Lanka needs to have practical and affordable flights, but the current flights are not enough. When someone lands at Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA), the connectivity facilities to the capital need to be improved significantly, including road networks. If you want to go to Mt. Lavinia Hotel from the airport, it takes one hour and 40 minutes to drive just 43 kilometres; this is ridiculous after a 10-hour flight from Europe,” he said.

He also asserted that there was no public transport from airport to downtown and people have to carry the luggage by themselves, which needs significant improvement. In addition, he noted that taxation and passport control need the immediate attention of the authorities.

“Last year, we had 40 million visitors to Turkey and generated $30 billion, which we reinvested in vocational training and infrastructure. We have also divested our tourism offering not by just focusing on land and sea. Sri Lanka too needs to invest on improving infrastructure and look at other lucrative tourism offerings like sports and adventure tourism for example, moving away from the conventional methods,” Özçuhadar added.

Malaysian High Commissioner to Sri Lanka Tan Yang Thai noted that adopting a liberal visa policy and a brand identity helped them develop their tourism industry to great heights.

“You recently launched your ‘So Sri Lanka’ campaign. This is very important so people can relate to Sri Lanka. We had ‘Malaysia, Truly Asia’ for more than 25 years and we never changed it. That is brand building and Sri Lanka is doing that. We had a very liberal visa policy and opened up to most companies. Sri Lanka is also heading in the same direction,” he said.

Indonesian Ambassador to Sri Lanka Gusti Ngurah Ardiyasa stressed that improving connectivity, liberal visa policies and creating awareness amongst local communities has worked well in improving their tourism sector.

“Like Sri Lanka, Bali is also blessed with natural beauty and strong culture. Connectivity is very important for us and we also work a lot with local people to make them understand the importance of the tourism industry. Indonesia has also developed 10 destinations beyond Bali and has new places to explore,” he added.

Ardiyasa also said Indonesia has given 30 days free visa access to 169 countries, including Sri Lanka.

[NIRMALSG]

Another good move by government to encourage the tourist to visit this awesome island country. Hope it will give a boost on tourism industry as well.    

On arrival visas free of charge for tourists from 36 countries

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Tourism Development Minister John Amaratunga said yesterday the government would grant on arrival visas for tourists from 36 countries free of charge from May 1 onwards for a trial period of six months.

Minister Amaratunga told Daily Mirror that tourists from the countries such as those in European Union, New Zealand, Australia, Thailand, Cambodia and Japan would be given this facility.

Afterwards, the Minister said it would be implemented for six months initially.

"Depending on its success, we will decide whether to proceed with it further or not. They will be allowed into the country without a fee.

Every year, there is a drop in tourist arrivals during the six months period starting from May. We will implement this programme during this period in a move to boost tourist arrivals,” he said.

The Minister said his target was to attract three million tourists to the country by the year’s end.

[NIRMALSG]

Kind of good sign after Easter attack about foreign investment on this kind of project.

Sri Lanka signs $4.5mn foreign hotel investment after Easter Sunday terror

ECONOMYNEXT- Sri Lanka's Board of Investment has signed an investment agreement with Sundara (Pvt) Ltd, which will develop a 4.5 million US dollar boutique hotel on the country's south coast.

"When the tourism industry is faced with setbacks, the significance of this investment is that there is greater confidence on Sri Lanka's economy and tourism sector," Board of Investment Chairman Mangala Yapa said.

Sundara (Pvt) Ltd Co-Founder Dale Rennie said that he is investing due to Sri Lanka's long-term tourism potential.

"We are looking at the next 5-10 years," he said.

The property, named The Plantation Koggala, will have 14 residency villas, each with a pool.

Investors in the villas have the option of living in them or allowing the hotel management to rent them out and receive a 7 percent annual return, Rennie said.

He said 50 percent of the villas have already been sold. The villas are priced at 243,000 US dollars.

The property was marketed to investors in the US, Australia, UK, Hong Kong, Singapore, Germany and Switzerland.

He said rented villas will be sold for 200 US dollars a night.

The hotel will be built on a former cinnamon plantation. It is also situated next to a smallholder tea plantation, which the hotel will support.

Construction of the project will start in a month, Rennie said.

Rennie and his wife and Co-Founder Sabrina Van Cleef Ault own 80 percent of the shares in Sundara (Pvt) Ltd.

They own The Heritage Cafe and Bistro in the Galle Fort.

He said another hotel, of 12-rooms, is currently in the planning stages in Ahungalla, which will receive an investment of around 300,000-400,000 US dollars.

"We intend to do a lot of these smaller properties going forward," he said.

Rennie has previously developed three properties in the Philippines and Indonesia, with total investments of approximately 35-40 million US dollars.

"We invest in ultra-luxurious boutique hotels which are environmentally sustainable," he said.

Rennie was previously Head of Marketing and Public Relations for Superfund Asset Management, an investment bank.

He was also the founder of AEC events, which marketed and produced concerts in Asia for acts like Michael Jackson, David Copperfield, Bon Jovi, Byran Adams and the Bolshoi Ballet. (Colombo/May31/2019)

[NIRMALSG]

Couple of good moves taken by government after the Easter attack even though government have the whole responsibility of neglecting the intelligence reports.

* After couple weeks from the attack, government took security situation explained to foreign ambassadors in Colombo.
* Launch Special Promotional Campaign in India.

Hope these will help to improve the sector and become profitable again.

[slstockVeteran]

Couple of good moves taken by government after the Easter attack even though government have the whole responsibility of neglecting the intelligence reports.

*  After couple weeks from the attack, government took security situation explained to foreign ambassadors in Colombo.
*  Launch Special Promotional Campaign in India.

Hope these will help to improve the sector and become profitable again.

Yes, few good moves to get tourism back in shape.
It good you have interest in the sector to keep updating.

Actually this attack is a major blow to economy.
Central Bank will fall short by about 20%  income targets for this year.


We should do our part to promote Sri lankan tourism too.

Doing what I can too to educate "foreigners"

~~~~~~~

But all in all for in short term lot of city hotels will be affected a lot .

[NIRMALSG]

Exactly slstock, actually I'm also working abroad and I can understand the impact of the tourism to the Sri Lankan economy.

So I'm also try to promote about Sri Lanka tourism in here as well.

Note:
For your information I do not hold single stock on this sector at the moment.

[NIRMALSG]

Dutch tourists eager to visit Sri Lanka after relaxing Travel Advisory

Jun 07, 2019 (LBO) – The number of tourists from The Netherlands travelling to Sri Lanka has begun to pick up, following the relaxation of the travel advisory by the Dutch Government last Friday.

In the aftermath of the Easter Sunday terrorist attacks in Sri Lanka on 21st April 2019, many countries, including The Netherlands issued travel advisories to their citizens advising them to visit Sri Lanka, “only if necessary”. This resulted in a sharp decline in tourist arrivals in Sri Lanka.

However, following strong lobbying efforts undertaken by the Embassy of Sri Lanka in The Netherlands, based upon inputs from the Foreign Ministry in Colombo and the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau (SLTPB) on the vastly improved security situation, the Dutch authorities decided to relax the travel advisory on Sri Lanka following consultations with other EU Member States.

The Netherlands has in recent years emerged as an important high-end tourism generating source country for Sri Lanka.

Due to the vigorous promotional efforts undertaken by the Embassy of Sri Lanka, in conjunction with the SLTPB, it has been possible to achieve a sustained year on year, double digit increase in tourist arrivals from The Netherlands since 2015.

Dutch tourist arrivals, which was a modest 24,196 in 2014 shot up to 32,742 in 2015, a 35% increase. This rose to 41,373 in the following year (2016).

In 2017, the figure increased by an impressive 23% over the 2016 figure to 51,148. Last year, 2018, Dutch tourist arrivals in Sri Lanka registered an all-time record figure of 57,160.

Although the Easter Sunday terror attacks had an immediate negative effect on Dutch nationals travelling to Sri Lanka, the Embassy of Sri Lanka is cautiously optimistic that this temporary setback would be quickly overcome and the Dutch who have shown a strong and abiding interest in Sri Lanka, would visit the country, during the forthcoming winter vacation season.

This is borne out by the large number of telephone and e-mail inquiries received by the Mission during this week, following the relaxation of the Dutch Government’s travel advisory on Sri Lanka.

The Embassy is continuing its proactive engagement with the Dutch authorities and the Travel Trade, in order to assure them that normalcy has returned to Sri Lanka and the country is safe for tourists.

[slstockVeteran]

Exactly slstock, actually I'm also working abroad and I can understand the  impact of the tourism to the Sri Lankan economy.

So I'm also try to promote about Sri Lanka tourism in here as well.

Note:
For your information I do not hold single stock on this sector at the moment.  

You totally deserve a rep for these actions and comment and I gave you one.

ps :  There aren't too many around who does things out of heart.

When tourism sector was doing good ,we saw the promotions with so many
people with words of wisdom and growth stats for Hotels.

When someone warned on the risks , they got together trying
to silence the speaker.

Where are the promoters now?
Only people talking now is  you,  me and maybe 1 other.

When things are downhill, all those promoters and others who were interested are silent as they move their game  play to different shares.

Other follow such people as many are only interested in money not
things from heart or for the country.


Well done for keeping the sector alive.

[ruwan326]

"There aren't too many around who does things out of heart. "

Heart have 2 ends, good and evil. So if your heart trained to do good we don't have to continue..... Unfortunately this world is filled with evil.

I started this topic Last January and still continuing.
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End of May I managed to visit Club waskaduwa & Mermaid Hotels. Both hotels didn't even have 10 Guest. So if you are planing to have a holiday please do visit our hotels, Most of the hotels gives 60% discounts and many promotions going on. Visit booking.com for more great deals.

Don't wait foreigners will come and rescue tourism and CSE. As a nation we need to work together and help each other.

[slstockVeteran]

yes it good if locals can patronize hotels to keep them afloat. agree.

But tourism in any case needs more foriegners too as they bring in $$ to the country. Thats boost our foreign reserves and help to reduce the deficit. Also when tourist visit they buy stuff and visit places which brings more $s.

my point is while we locals have do things internally to keep the sector alive when in trouble we also have bring in foriegners again . As I mentioned elsewhere I saw the poultry sector is in trouble too after the attack and foriegners are coming less

[NIRMALSG]

Thnaks SLS for your encouraging words really appropriate it.

Another major reason why I'm contributing here is I recently (may be during last 2 to 3 years) got to know the power of the investment and I believe current CSE have huge potential on great outcome.
Hope these potentials help someone to grab those opportunities.

Aitken Spence Maritime facilitates first cruise ship to Colombo following April aftermath

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The luxury cruise ship “MS EUROPA 2”, owned by German operator Hapag-Lloyd Kreuzfahrten Hamburg, recently called on the Ports of Hambantota and Colombo with 309 passengers and 356 crew onboard.

Aitken Spence Maritime is the agent in Sri Lanka for Hapag-Lloyd which is one of the largest container shipping lines in the world. MS Europa and MS Europa 2 are the only cruise ships in the world classified with 5-star rating by the legendary Berlitz Cruise Guide. MS Europa 2 is regarded as the new jewel of the Hapag-Lloyd Cruises fleet.

“We are extremely delighted that Aitken Spence Maritime facilitated the first cruise ship to call on two Ports of Sri Lanka after the unfortunate incidents that took place in April 2019. It is also encouraging for the team to see their efforts materialise and with the Group’s active involvement in the leisure industry, the company will continue to offer comprehensive synergised services to cruise operators,” said Iqram Cuttilan, Managing Director of Aitken Spence Maritime.

“Hapag-Lloyd Kreuzfahrten having made frequent calls to Trincomalee, Hambantota, Galle and Colombo will also include their ships in its schedule for 2019/20.

In fact, Hapag-Lloyd Kreuzfahrten has selected Sri Lankan Ports as the beginning and end of their voyages, enabling passengers to embark and disembark in Sri Lanka,” said Lalith Witanachchi, Assistant Vice President of Hapag-Lloyd Lanka.

Hapag-Lloyd’s local agent, Aitken Spence Maritime, is a pioneer in the industry and was the first in Sri Lanka to undertake port efficiency enhancement management overseas with its entry into the African Continent and subsequently the South Pacific Islands.