Analysis of Destination: Sri Lanka - Case Study Example

ID Number: Analysis of destination – Sri Lanka Introduction Sri Lanka was known as Ceylon till 1972 and is an islandcountry that is situated in the northern part of the Indian Ocean. The great explorer Marco Polo in twelfth century had written that Sri Lanka is the finest island across the globe. The majority of tourists for this destination over the years were Europeans and Sri Lanka was the most preferred destination for this segment of tourists. However the rapid growing tourism industry of Sri Lanka had noticed a drastic change due to the civil war that had lasted for over 25 years and it ended recently in the year 2009. Though the tourism sector had been stagnated for many years but the evolution of this tourist destination has started which has made it the most valued destination for tourists for their holidays by worldwide holiday costs barometer in the year 2012. Sri Lanka as a tourist destination has mainly three advantages such as the island is very compact which enables the tourists to travel across the island within few days, next is that it is an authentic destination of tourists, and lastly it offers unparallel diversity of tourism products. On the contrary the Government of Sri Lanka has certain policies according to which the tourists who do not possess nationality proof r are not dual citizens of the island or are rather international tourists are subjected to expensive tourist attraction spots or even accommodation. The main products of the tourism in Sri Lanka are beaches, wildlife, heritage, body and mind wellness, scenic beauty, adventure, sports, and the culture of the destination. Political map of the destination The political map of Sri Lanka has been given below- (Hoffmann 156) Two major features of the natural environment of Sri Lanka Sri Lanka over the years has been a very famous destination in the tourism industry. The balmy waters of Indian Ocean have always offered a very splendid experience to its tourists. The natural environment features of a destination are supposed to be the most attractive aspect for the tourists. Sri Lanka is well known for its exotic beaches which is one of its natural environmental features. The island is surrounded by waters from all the sides and so it is considered to be the best holiday destination for those tourists who like to visit beaches. The tourists can experience this in Arugam Bay Being which is just 315km from Colombo and also in Negombo, Mount Lavinia, etc., and there is also other wide range of beaches in the island. The other feature is biodiversity which is one of the most impressive features of this island. The island comprises of mammals, fishes, birds, snakes and butterflies and such a natural feature can be experienced by tourists in Yala National Park, Wilpattu National Park, and many more. Kind of society the tourists would find at the destination Sri Lanka has been able to offer its tourists with splendid experience mainly because of the harmony in its society. The society of this island is very much protective towards its natural and heritage resources and even tries to give their tourists a warm friendly atmosphere. The society comprises of all four religions such as Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism, and Islam and the island celebrates each of the festivals with great pride. Tourists who visit this destination can notice the creativity and harmonious culture of the society in the way they are adopting measures to keep natural resources safeguarded and even give equal importance to handicraft making and other important cultural aspect to keep the island clean and most preferred holiday destination. The reflection of such society can also be seen through its ayurvedic and meditation centres. Two major heritage resources of the destination Sri Lanka has a history of about 2500 years and has plenty heritage resources which helps the tourists to be well aware of the history of this island. There are a total of 8world heritage resources that is located in Sri Lanka, however the two most important heritage resources that attracts majority of the tourists are the hill capital Kandy and the Sinharaja rain forest. Kandy is the last royal capital of the island that depicts the history of Sri Lanka and it comprises of vast number of temples and can be regarded as a cultural capital of the island. The city is famous for the temple of Tooth that holds the tooth of Buddha which is taken out every year in the months of July and it is must a watch for all the tourists (Cochrane 56). The city was established in the 15th century which helps the tourists to reflect on the history of the island. The second one is Sinharaja rain forest which is a biodiversity hotspot and national park located in the island. The resource even comprises of unique flora and fauna and has considered being the world heritage site since the year 1988. This heritage location makes the tourist understand that the island consists of such unique species from a long time and has been able to maintain such heritage sites which reflects the serenity of the island. Analysis of Sri Lanka as a tourist destination The island some thousand years ago had witnessed a large number of pilgrims who used to come and visit the shores of the island. Later on the nineteenth century many travellers used to spend some time in Colombo while they were travelling for Europe to Asia. In the year 1966 tourism was considered to be a major industry that brings forth some changes in the economic conditions by the government. In the year 1967 there were some foreign experts who were hired s that they bring forth some development in the tourism sector of the island (Richter 167). This gave rise to development of wide range of accommodation and other facilities so as to attract more number of tourists to the destination. The civil war that lasted in the island for almost 25 years had disrupted the tourism sector but it again emerged once there was an end to the war. The world heritages sites, beaches, tea gardens, spices, flora and fauna, and the attractive culture and festival made Sri Lanka as one of the favoured destinations of tourists over the years. Influencing factors or tourist to visit Sri Lanka There are three major influencing factors that make tourists to visit such destinations such as that of Sri Lanka. Firstly is the motivational factor that makes the tourist realize that they need a break and visit such exotic location can refresh their mind. The other motivational elements include the locations – beaches, forests, adventure, sports, yoga centres, etc. The push factors are the internal motives that influence tourists to visit Sri Lanka such as to relax, to stay away from the busy work schedule, take rest, learn new things, and acquire knowledge about the new location, to witness a new culture and lifestyle. The pull factors are external and are majorly associated with the destination such as flora and fauna diversity of Sri Lanka, natural beauty, food, safety of the location, Sri Lankan culture, historical monuments, and diverse tourist attraction spots. Examples of tourism merchandise Tourism merchandise majorly serves the purpose to make the tourists remember about the destination and even to capture some memories for life long. Sri Lanka has taken active measures in the form of different shops and outlets for tourists where the visitors can get a wide range of products that are designed as per the culture of Sri Lanka. The island is famous in handicrafts that can be purchased by tourists so as to remind them of their visit to Sri Lanka. The beautiful tourist merchandise is Wood Carving, Lacquerware, and Pottery. The Wood carving products mainly is building unique features from small pieces of wood. The products are made by local people and are very finely carved to gives various shapes to the products. The pottery products reflect the culture of Sri Lanka with some exceptional paintings done by the Sri Lankans. Lacquerware are precisely those objects that are very exceptionally decorated by lacquer. It involves various boxes, buttons, tableware, etc. The tourist merchandise are given below- (Strehlow 77) Impacts tourism has had on the lives of the host society of Sri Lanka Tourism was initially not considered as the most appropriate sector to invest by the Government of Sri Lanka. In the later stage when tourism in this island began to gain importance it had a positive impact on the economy of the region. Tourism industry was the only main source of foreign income that was coming in the island and even contributed towards developing a sustained economy (Ellis 113). However the tourism industry has not been able to cater some of the specific needs of the local population. It has even disrupted biodiversity of the island as most of the animals remain threatened due to increase tourism. However it has been able to become a source of income of backward society in the form of handicraft manufacturing, tourist merchandise shops, adventure sports, etc. Kinds of accommodation available for tourists There are various kinds of accommodation that is available for tourist in Sri Lanka. The island originally comprised of various categories of accommodation such as hotels, boutique villas, guest houses, apartment hotels, camp sites, ayurvedic hotels, camp sites, and eco lodges that are ready to welcome the large base of tourist in which ever season of the year. However the Government of Sri Lanka has undertaken a program in order to make the experience of the tourists memorable at Sri Lanka and even to handle the increase in upcoming tourism in terms of making more rooms available. This program comprises of launch of bungalows, home stays, and rented apartments or houses. The major motive of these accommodations is to make the holiday of the tourist a memorable and even to offer a clean and comfortable stay at a reasonable price. Kinds of transport tourists would use in order to visit the destination The major form of transport that would be required by tourist to reach Sri Lanka is mainly through flights. There is only one international airport that in this island that is Bandaranaike International Airport that can be opted by all the foreign travellers who wishes to visit this destination. However there are many domestic airports the most commonly used ones is Dickwella Airport, Ratmalana Airport, etc. Once the tourists reach the destination there are various modes of transport that is available however the flight route between Jaffna and Colombo has limited domestic flights. The tourists can take train as a mode to travel across the region or can even take buses that are majorly used by traveller and covers all the regions of Sri Lanka that are tourist hot spots. Other local transport of the region comprises of three wheelers and taxis. The tourist has also the opportunity to hire bicycles, motorcycle and car for their travel across Sri Lanka. Kinds of gastronomic experiences available for tourists The gastronomic experiences denote certain additional elements present in the destination that reflects the culture of the region and also helps to create a memorable experience for the tourists. The experience of various flavours of Ceylon tea of Sri Lanka creates a gastronomic experience. This tea is mainly characterized by the citrus aroma and its crispiness. The Ceylon black tea is famous amongst the tourists however there are other flavours of tea that is available such as green tea, white tea, and oolong tea. The land that is rich in biodiversity also helps to create a gastronomic experience for the tourist in the form of Singhalese diet that consist of ingredients that are traditional to the region such as lentils, bananas, rice, tropical fruits, vegetables, spices and yams. A wide number of spices are used in the curries of Singhalese food making it highly flavoured and even very attractive. Purpose of promotion of a destination Tourism industry of a region is highly based on the promotional techniques that are adopted so as to spread more awareness amongst the travellers regarding the destination and even to highlight the aspects as to why the travellers should spend money and time visiting that destination. The main aim behind promoting a destination is to make people aware of the culture and heritage that is possessed in that particular destination. The innovative method that has been adopted by the Tourism Ministry to promote the region is in the form of an ecotourism destination. There are other promotional measures such as websites; media travel newspapers and magazines that cover various regions of the destination for the tourists. There are 6 PR agencies across the globe that is responsible for promoting Sri Lanka in the overseas. Additionally there has also been a small project undertaken by the tourism ministry of this region with the travel traders in order to promote special packages so that more number of travellers visits Sri Lanka. Different kinds of postcards of the destination and its interpretation The postcards are the reflection of the destination that is being visited by a tourist. The first postcard reflects that the destination that is Sri Lanka has highly rich heritage resources. The presence of monuments, temples, and ancient culture make some of its sites come under world heritage locations. The second postcard clearly reflects that the destination is very rich in biodiversity with a wide range of flora and fauna. The island has been able to safeguard its biodiversity and as a result some of its national parks and forests are world famous and attracts majority of the tourists. The next postcard is a clearly depiction of the factor that makes this island so beautiful and attractive for all its tourists and that is the presence of blue and balmy waters of beaches. The island is surrounded by beaches from all sides and even has made this destination a perfect location for the tourists for a beach holiday. (Hoffmann 145) Components for an original brochure of Sri Lanka The brochure for Sri Lanka would consist of all the necessary information that would be helpful for the tourists in terms of road maps, destination names, hotels, etc., and even would comprise of some most popular regions of the island and some other activities. The front page of the brochure to be designed would be as stated below- (Seth 103) The first most important content of the brochure would be a clear descriptive of the history and culture of Sri Lanka. The background section would comprise of the essential elements of the region that is beaches, monuments, and wildlife. The next component would be the names and contact numbers of accommodations or hotels that can be availed by the tourists. The next section would comprise of all the activities that is hosted in Sri Lanka such as water sports, safari, yoga and meditation. The brochure would even comprise of attractive pictures of different locations and would serve as guide for tourists. Conclusion Tourism industry in Sri Lanka has not only helped to economic condition of the region but has also helped in spreading more awareness of the destination amongst the traveller making it the most preferred beach holiday destination. Sri Lanka is not popular because of its exotic tea gardens, spices, beaches, monuments, wildlife, etc, but it also comprises of finest culture. Sri Lanka has been able to reflect this culture not only through their handicrafts, pottery painting etc, but also through the wide variety of flavoured food that it offers to their tourists. The compact nature of the island makes it very easy to travel across the regions of Sri Lanka though the road and flight routes needs to be more developed by the Government but still it has been considered specifically by the European travellers as the most splendid and exotic destination. Sri Lanka through its wide variety of natural and heritage resources offers the tourist a memorable experience that can be cherished by them for the rest of life. Works Cited Cochrane. Janet., Asian Tourism: Growth and Change. Hungary: Elsevier. 2008. Print. Ellis. Royston., Sri Lanka. USA: Bradt Travel Guides. 2011. Print. Hoffmann. Sara., Sri Lanka in Pictures. UK: Twenty-First Century Books. 2005. Print. Richter. Linda., The Politics of Tourism in Asia. USA: University of Hawaii Press. 2000. Print. Seth. Pran., Successful Tourism: Volume I: Fundamentals of Tourism. New Delhi: Sterling Publishers Pvt. Ltd. 2006. Print. Strehlow. Anja., Tourism in Sri Lanka: The advocacy and cautionary platform point of view. UK: GRIN Verlag. 2009. Print. Read More