Sri Lanka Tourism Industry Technological Environment

                 Technological Environment

The tourism industry has proved particularly suitable for the adoption of information technology because of its dependence upon the supply and exchange of information throughout the production and distribution chain. As an extremely information intensive industry, tourism is undergoing rapid and radical Morden changes. A wide range of opportunities discover on daily basis through the used for information and communication technology. Now information technology is  a variety of function in the tourism industry. ranging form an internal organization role to external communication between different parts of the industry. The continuous development of information technology has profound implications for the whole tourism.

Today, a wide range of tourism sectors is taking the advantage of the information superhighway. Technology facilitates the speed and efficiency with which information of the tourism industry is processed, stored, retrieved, distributed and otherwise manipulated. Information technology can reduce costs of information handling, increase speed of information transfer and retrieval and increase customer involvement in the control of transactions. It has flexibility of product specifications and greater reliability of information transferred.

Opportunities for Sri Lankan Tourism

• There is a growing awareness that ICT has drastically changed tourism worldwide. It is of vital importance to acquire the skills and tools and to engage in a multi channel strategy to reach the final customer reducing dependence on foreign media, foreign tour operators and others in the traditional value chain.
• Merely having a "web presence" is not enough. More detailed knowledge is required of aspects such as usability and search engine optimization and other elements of online branding and marketing. As well as providing content online, there must be services as search facilities, availability checks and online reservation and payment.
• Sri Lanka, especially Colombo, offers a wide variety of provides of web design, website development and other ICT related applications and services at affordable price levels, this will assist the ambitions of the tourism sector to make the most of information and communication technology.
• An example of an e-tourism initiative is the ambition of the International Finance Corporation (IFC) of the World Bank group and the South Asia Enterprise Development Facility (SEDF) to implement two online accommodations booking portals in Sri Lanka( based on systems of Worldhotellink.com Ltd) a part of their initiative to develop sustainable tourism in the region, benefiting local communities.

• The  e-Sri Lanka initiative is also important -a stakeholder - led, multi - donor funded national development initiative with the objective to grow the ICT sector and use of ICT as an enabler for socio - economic development is the responsibility of the Information and Communication Technology Association of Sri Lanka (ICTA).  

Developing Industry Professionalism

The govemment will improve productivity of the tourism industry, though building professionalism in the travel and hotel industries. The private sector will be encouraged to set up world renowned human resource development centres to meet the emerging needs of the tourism industry locally and abroad. Hotel management and tourism promotion subjects will be provided in the curriculum of university academic programmers.

Simultaneously, the government will extend maximum support to the private sector training institutions with a view to maintaining the standards of services. Licensing of tour guides in order to standardize their service( though a competency test) and accreditation of travel agents will be undertaken.

Improving Service Standards

Safety standards and security aspects of tourism will be given a high priority. Regulatory bodies will be strengthened to ensure the quality standards of products and security aspects of tourists. Rule, regulations and institutional mechanisms relating to the protection of tourists and the environment will be strengthened. Strict policy vigilance and monitoring will be conducted to minimize tourism related crimes and abuses.

INFRESTRUCTURE

To a greater degree than most activities, Travel & Tourism depends on a wide range of infrastructure services - airports, air navigation, roads, railheads and ports, as well as basic infrastructure services required by hotels, restaurants, shops and recreation facilities. It is the combination of tourism and good infrastructure that underpins the economic , environmental and social benefits. It is impotent to balance any decision to develop an area for tourism against the need to preserve fragile or threatened environments and cultures. However , once a  decision has been taken where an area is appropriate for new tourism development , or  that an existing tourist site should be developed further, than good infrastructure will be essential to sustain the quality, economic viability and growth of Travel & Tourism. Good infrastructure will also be a key factor in the industry's ability to manage visitor flows in ways that do not affect the natural or built heritage,. nor counteract against local interests.

Latest Implications 

Government is estimated that 2.5Mn tourist arrivals by 2016 will require around 45,000 hotel rooms catering to the tourism industry. However  as per end 2010 statistics, the country has only 22,735 SLTDA approved hotel rooms. This means the industry has a task of adding around 22,500 rooms to the current capacity, during the next five years. At the same time most of the current facilities also need to be refurbished. In order to facilitate the process of building room capacity SLTDA has take initiatives.