To Rebuild, Tsunami-Ravaged Nations Need Tourists
Pacific News Service, Commentary, Lakshman Ratnapala, Posted: Jan 25, 2005
Editor's Note: Sensational media reports and overly cautious government travel advisories are scaring tourists away from countries around the Indian Ocean hit by the Christmas tsunamis. But, the writer says, many communities have rebuilt, others were unaffected, and tourists are needed to help restore lives and livelihoods.
SAN FRANCISCO--South Asia faces another crisis following the deadly Christmas tsunami: a drop-off in tourism. But unlike the tsunami, this crisis, which could take a huge economic toll on tourism-dependent communities, is entirely preventable.
Sri Lanka is the country that likely risks the most from a tourism drought. Current estimates suggest 31,000 dead, 6,000 missing, 150,000 homes destroyed, about a million homeless and hundreds of thousands jobless. True, Indonesia suffered a terrible toll in fatalities, with up to seven times more dead. But Indonesia's population is more than 10 times that of Sri Lanka's. In economic terms, Indonesia's hard-hit Aceh province was relatively undeveloped, except for oil and gas exploration, which was untouched by the tsunami. In Thailand, Sri Lanka and the Maldives, on the other hand, the tsunami lashed idyllic beach resorts -- hubs of tourism, employment and income for millions of people. This is not to minimize the tragedy in Indonesia, only to say the economic impact was greater elsewhere.
The fishing industry took a big hit in all the tsunami-ravaged countries. Again, without minimizing the human tragedy, the fishing industry contributes little to the economies of these countries in relation to the tourism industry in terms of income, employment and infrastructure. In Sri Lanka, for instance, the hardest-hit fisheries contribute around 2 percent of G.D.P. The tourism industry, on the other hand, is the country's fourth biggest foreign exchange earner.
In the immediate aftermath of the tsunami, when search and rescue operations took priority, foreign tourists were evacuated from the beach resorts, cared for and tended to -- often by villagers who had themselves lost everything. Tour operators abroad were asked to suspend operations until the ravaged communities composed themselves. Now the rehabilitation and rebuilding phase has begun in earnest. Many road and telecommunication links have been restored, damaged hotels repaired, beaches cleaned and the air services normalized.
But the tourists aren't coming. Why? It is a mixture of fear and perceptions. Fear of danger and disease fanned by media reports of the mere possibility of disease, and not by any fact of an actual outbreak, and the perception, however unreal, that whole destinations have been upturned. These fears have been exacerbated by so-called "travel advisories" by countries such as the United States and United Kingdom. By painting entire countries with the broad brush of "advisories," governments have, in effect, frightened prospective travelers away from not only the tsunami-hit beaches, but also from areas untouched by the tsunami and once-popular with tourists. Sri Lanka, for instance, has unspoiled beaches north of Colombo, hill resorts, ancient monuments and wildlife parks.
The United Kingdom relaxed the advisory recently. Too little, too late. Tour operators have already canceled tours until March.
Now, not only beach resorts but also entire countries are starving for business. It is not only the doormen and waiters who are out of work due to the tourism drought. Hotel staff, as well as purveyors of ancillary services, are jobless and their families left reeling. Taxi drivers, handicraft vendors, suppliers of fruits and vegetables to hotels, tour guides, shopkeepers and farmers are all out of work.
The Sri Lanka Tourist Board has launched an expensive "Bounce Back" campaign urging tourists to return. The tsunami-ravaged peoples have shown a remarkable resilience, an amazing determination to rebuild their lives and their nations. Tourism is key to that rebuilding process. It is an engine of economic growth. A healthy tourism industry will provide the jobs and the dignity to put the smiles back on faces. Visitors to countries and communities affected by the tsunami will no doubt receive an extra-warm welcome.
PNS contributor Lakshman Ratnapala is president emeritus of the Pacific Asia Travel Association. He contributes frequently on business and tourism to journals such as the Lanka Monthly Digest, a Sri Lankan business journal.
Page
1 of 1
|
