Sri Lanka delivers on a spectacular promise

While many, more mundane, destinations struggle to self-promote, Sri Lanka is the embodyment of a rather fortunate case of role reversal. There seems to be an inbuilt, characteristic modesty that every Sri Lankan carries with them and which permeates the coluntry's fabric, making any visit here an out and out pleasure. In a word, Sri Lanka sells itself. Aside from the breathtaking scenery of such cities as Colombo and Kandy, the colonial heritage of its tea plantations, it's crystal sea and pristine beaches, and the majesty of its rainforests and cultural triangle, inbound groups have a wealth of options to keep them enthralled. A natural attention to detail characterises any trip to Sri Lanka, and there's an unspoken kindness and willingness to listen to guest needs at every step of the tourist experience which holds sway throughout. Needless to say, the kind of service groups can expect to receive feels like a pleasure and adds to the effortlessness of the overall experience. Bouncing back Even in the face of the devastation of the December 26 tsunami — which swept across many of Sri lanka's coastal areas and wiped out entire communities as well as tourist resorts — today's picture is of active efforts to build the future and move on. Although the Southern coastal road from Colombo to Galle bears the tsunami's brutal scars, resort destinations such as Bentota, Beruwala and Hikkaduwa are up and running, with many of the five-star properties bearing no visible signs of the damage since refurbishments, besides the glaring lack of guests. Today the roads are fully functional, railway lines are — in the true sense of the word — back on track and much of the coast is primed to welcome the visitors that are reluctant to return because of the misplaced assumption that Sri Lanka has been decimated. Thanks to the US$320million 'Bounceback Sri Lanka' global PR and marketing campaign launched last month by the Sri Lanka Tourism Board, a concerted effort including support by the world's advertising community and leading media looks set to ensure that the island stays top of mind in the crucial year ahead. With the tsunami slashing into Sri Lanka's peak tourist season, the campaign's inauguration saw 100 global journalists flown in to report on the reality of 'business-as-usual' in Sri Lanka. "Sri Lanka has fully recovered in terms of its ability to cater to CEI tourists. Our efforts are mainly on communications, where we need to send the factual situation in the country to our markets; sending out regular news items, inviting media personnel and conducting roadshows are some of the activities we are engaged in," Sri Lanka Convention Bureau (SCVB) general manager Vipula Wanigasekera tells CEI Asia Pacific. In the face of Sri Lanka's best year to date, in terms of a record 540,000 tourism arrivals for 2004 — versus 475,000 in 2003 — the knock-on effects have been palpable. Interestingly, while leisure and corporate travel has fallen away on the coast as well as inland, today, hotel occupancy is being buoyed by the large number of NGO and charity workers actively involved in the coastal rehabilitation. Occupancy rates of 15 per cent for February at spectacular coastal properties such as The Lighthouse Hotel in Galle, are not uncommon. "Of the 107 registered star class (coastal resort) hotels, only 58 were affected, of which less than 8 suffered structural damages, while the others were back in operation after a few days cleaning," notes Wanigasekera, adding. Almost all the resort hotels are now back in operation and most of them are even catering to visitors from international (aid) organisations who arrived here for rehabilitation work." In the former capital Colombo, the city's five-star hotels are buzzing with activity from the NGO sector, with guest occupancy flowing into average stays of over a month. Group-focused Colombo Boasting the 1,500 seat purpose built Bandaranaike International Conference Hall (BMICH), in addition to the convention and exhibition centre in Colombo Fort, Sri Lanka's former capital is well-geared to medium-sized international groups. The city's hotels have ample meeting and conference facilities and are clustered in the central business district (CBD) of Colombo, close to 45-minutes drive from Bandaranaike International Airport by car. According to The Colombo Plaza assistant director of sales Chris Quyn, the city's top hotels can cater to 1000-strong conferences and all are within walking distance of one another. "The Colombo Plaza has 389 rooms and could divert at least 85 for a conference — by November (after refurbishment), we'll be able to set aside up to 150," he says. Needless to say, the city's hoteliers are gearing up for a shortfall in occupancy once the NGO activity subsides. Notes Quyn: "The business sector has taken over the leisure sector. NGO projects can go on for three-to-six months and so sustain the hotel business in Colombo. There's also a team rotation with the NGOs and there will be people coming in on a regular basis." City hotels are also running special rates for first time travellers to Sri Lanka. "February has been good, but we're expecting to see the effects of the tsunami in March. I feel that the real market in Colombo will pick up sometime in June or early July," says Galle Face Hotel front office manager Inthikab Alam. As Asia's oldest purpose-built hotel, the 140-year old Galle Face is a colonial landmark on par with the likes of Singapore's Raffles. Nestled on the shores of the Indian Ocean, by April the hotel completes a series of refurbishments which will see its new, luxury Regency Wing opened with the CEI market in mind. According to Alam, the 63 deluxe rooms and 19 suites housed in the Regency Wing's "boutique hotel within a hotel" will be complemented by a club lounge, a 20,000sq ft spa and extensive business facilties. Along with the 65-room classic wing, conference and meeting facilities include a tent-ceilinged grand ballroom catering to over 1000, in addition to five more function spaces and the hotel's lush gardens, perfect for outdoor events. Also in the CBD, the plush 384-room Hilton Colombo houses the city's largest ballroom at 729sqm and catering to 500 banquet-style, with the 358-room Trans Asia Colombo equally primed for groups — with a 570sqm ballroom catering to 350 for banquets. Unveiling a series of new refurbishments, Trans Asia assistant sales manager Naslin Jayawardana outlines the hotel's 150-room CEI quota. Between them, Colombo's leading hoteliers are quick to go the extra mile when it comes to allocating inventory to CEI groups. Large-scale events According to SLCB chairman Haniffa Ishak, June 3 to 5 this year will see BMICH hold the Sri Lanka Tourism Board's third annual travel mart. "We're hoping to get a fair amount of buyers coming forward — we call (the event) the 'Gateway to Asia' and we expect to improve on buyer numbers this year — we're expecting around 90 buyers from Europe and Asia." Sri Lanka has also been busy securing key global conferences — notably a 500-strong global energy conference slated for September, next April's Government-sponsored South Asia Games which will see 2,000 delegates, officials and VIPS descend on the island, and the country's recently finalised bid for the Commonwealth Executive Council conference of 2007. The council will convene from the UK in 2007 to decide where to hold the 2012 Commonwealth Games. In keeping with its sporting heritage, 2006 also sees Sri Lanka play host to the Air New Zealand 'Golden Oldies Cricket Tour' — an event which the country won following a global bid. The fact that Sri Lanka's former cricket captain Arjuna Ramatunga is now deputy tourism minister — while being captain when Sri Lanka won the cricket World Cup in 1996 — adds a meaningful twist to the event, which is in itself slated to draw a sizeable number of global visitors to the country's shores. A wealth of options Despite room rate cuts in the face of the post-tsunami slowdown, as a destination, Sri Lanka has made significant inroads into shedding its budget traveller tag. A wide range of hotel options convey exclusive boutique luxury combined with quintessential, personalised Sri Lankan service. The country's geography also amalgamates city, cultural, adventure and naturecentric diversions. While corporates planning a trip here would be well-advised to make the most of the breadth of options Sri Lanka effortlessly provides, this is not always synonymous with travel to the country being either easy or convenient. Despite national carrier Sri Lankan Airlines newly introducing thrice-weekly flights from Beijing via Bangkok from May onwards, the 'via' can add valuable journey time better spent at the destination itself. Nevertheless, new additions to its summer 2005 timetable include ramped-up services to Singapore and Malaysia, as well greater frequency to Indian destinations such as Cochin, Calicut, Tirichirrappalli, Truvandrum and Hyderabad. With Sri Lanka accorded 'preferred destination status' with China, since October 2004, PRC travelers can travel restriction-free to the country. According to SriLanka Airlines industry affairs manager Yasmin Majeed, incentive travel to-and-from China is largely to Maldives capital Male. "So there's the possibility of some of this (market) being promoted as a dual destination both to Male and Sri Lanka. Since Chinese groups are already going to Male, the best thing is to dual promote the destination, so they spend two days here in Colombo and then on to Male," she notes. While Majeed admits that the China CEI market "will take a while to build", all eyes are on India's group corporate travel segment. With 77 weekly flights to India and a raft of frequency hikes, the airline and SLCB have been regularly holding promotional CEI roadshows since 2002. "We just finished the first leg of our road show with India, which we do with SriLanka Airlines. The response has been very good, particularly from Mumbai," notes SLCB's Wanigaskera. "Even before the tsunami, we were planning to allocate more funds to promote to India, both for CEI and for leisure," says Sri Lankan's Majeed, adding. "We cover Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Chennai and also do regular CEI promotions with these markets." Industry pundits in Colombo are bullish about the prospects of the Indo-Sri Lankan CEI partnership. "Realistically, we're going to be gearing up to CEI by November 2005. The Indian market is very much in our favour and they're going to be our bread and butter for some years to come," says one source. According to Sri Lanka Association of Group Tour Agencies' spokesperson and Columbus Tours managing director, Bobby Jordan-Hansen, Sri Lanka's value and service mix is simply not available in India. "We have a standard of service which is superlative and a four-star (standard) which in Sri Lanka is often better than five-star in India. The Indian market is very price focused — Indian corporates find it more expensive to hold an event in India and they find Sri Lanka easier on price, flight availability and hotel accommodation." All good news for Southeast Asian groups, as well as the growing China market, but corporate groups from regional hubs such as Hong Kong seeking the convenience of direct flights may find their enthusiam hampered by an eight-hour journey via Singapore. "Sri Lanka is now recognised as a gateway to the Far East, Europe, Middle East and central Asia," says Sri Lanka Convention Bureau general manager Vipula Wanigasekera. "Apart from CEI facilities of international standard, Sri Lanka has a vast diversity of attractions and products from hill country tea plantations, green paddy fields, beaches, historic cities, sanctuaries for wildlife, lush waterfalls to festivals, sports and shopping. For adventurers there are activities such as trekking, mountain-biking, canoeing, rock-climbing and surfing and clients can select from a wide range of options from team-building exercises or a programme in the jungle," he notes. Thankfully, on arrival, a number of transport options are available to groups — including Sri Lankan's handy Air Taxi service which sees Cessna Caravan seaplanes seating eight and flying from Colombo's Bandaranaike International Airport at Katunayake and the city's domestic airport at Ratmalana to Trincomalee, Bentota, Kandy, Galle, Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa-Sigiriya. Journey times of up to an hour bypass fascinating but long-winded rides inland along winding roads. Modesty in the face of majesty In terms of food for inspiring incentives, Sri Lanka is rich in substance, despite the hospitality industry being quicker to point out its shortcomings than the many factors which point to its being an ideal corporate group destination. A selection of the best properties and activities from Colombo's southbound coastal road to Galle, into the central heartland of Kandy and up to the so-called 'Cultural Triangle' of Sigiriya, Dambulla and Polonnaruwa deserve a notable mention. As the original landing point of Portuguese and Dutch explorers, Galle, its Fort and pristine colonial architecture continues to attract avid interest. The mid-February opening of ultra-exclusive sister resorts Amangalla at Galle Fort and Amanwella on the Southwest coast mark the luxury resort operator's first foray into Sri Lanka. Significantly during this time, and despite espousing the virtues of 'small and exclusive' versus group-focused, Aman's presence is a vocal thumbs up for the local hotel industry and for Sri lanka as a whole. "The fact Aman Resorts, as Small Luxury Hotels of the World, is bringing their brand into Sri Lanka says that they've got the confidence to bring investment into Sri Lanka," says Dhammika Gunasekera, senior manager at homegrown PEO/PCO Jet Asia. As CEI's potential is realised, Sri Lanka's interior is also experiencing a resurgence in interest. "The thinking has changed from this 'sun, sea and sand' image of Sri Lanka," says Kandalama Hotel resident manager Jeevaka Weerakone. His comments echo the overriding industry sentiment that ultimately, the awakening of Sri Lanka's CEI sector looks promising. "CEI is definitely not tapped enough — we have the facilities and capability to handle it, but that has not been marketed enough."