Govt targets independent travel segment | Sunday Observer

Govt targets independent travel segment

20 August, 2017

The Government is mulling new strategies to encourage low-end tourists who spend more in the country than the high-end segment which the country had been focusing on in the past.

Sources indicate that earnings from high-end travellers are inadequate as most of their requirements have to be sourced from outside at a higher cost and online travel agents and hotel chains earn well from high-end travellers.

Statistics reveal that at around seventy to eighty percent of the money that an independent traveller spends is retained in the country.

Minister Tourism Development, John Amaratunge told the Sunday Observer said that while there is no major shift in strategy they will concentrate more on the independent traveller.

“As much as we need high-end tourists we cannot ignore independent travellers.

They mostly come to areas such as Panama and Arugam Bay. Both segments are important to the country. We cannot be choosy,” the Minister said.

With a number of hotels coming up in Colombo, mostly three-star to five-star, the Minister said that it is the middle and the high-end tourist who will opt for such accommodation whereas independent travellers tend to opt for a hostel or back packers’ lodging.

The Minister further emphasised the need to move away from traditional tourism and focus on wellness and adventure tourism such as white water rafting and surfing.

“We will launch a wellness hotel in partnership with local companies to promote new segments in tourism to boost foreign exchange earnings,” he said.

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