Inside Asian Gaming

INSIDE ASIAN GAMING | October 2013 14 COVER STORY significant increases in arrivals from North America and Europe—the UK is Sri Lanka’s second-largest feeder market, Germany is third, France is fourth, US visitation is up 20% year on year—and notably from China, whose 24,300 visitors through August represent a 74% increase over last year. China also features prominently in a The United National Party, Mr Rajapaksa’s main opponent in Parliament, questions the 10- year tax breaks and has criticized the Crown-Wijeratne joint venture as an evasion of government pledges not to issue new casino licenses. It has called for an accounting and a full debate in Parliament. $6 million tourism marketing campaign launched earlier this year and targeting East Asia, the Middle East, India and Russia with road shows, press conferences, meetings with dignitaries, trade fair exhibitions and straight-up sales pitches. A “Sri Lanka Shines in Beijing” promotion at the end of the summer brought a high-level delegation to the Chinese capital for several days, the deputy minister of Economic Development and the head of the TDA among them, and it resulted in contracts for newspaper and radio spots and ads on billboards and buses and in train stations around the city. The goal is 275,000 Chinese visitors by 2016, at which point the government hopes to have attracted US$3 billion in tourism-related FDI and FOREX earnings of $2.75 billion, which would elevate tourism from sixth on that list to first. Ideally, tourism-related employment will have more than tripled to 500,000 direct and indirect jobs. It’s not likely the country will get there in time, mainly given the infrastructure issues, and at any rate it’s already ruffling political and religious sensibilities. The United National Party, Mr Rajapaksa’s main opponents in Parliament, complains that he’s giving away the store. They’ve zeroed in on the 10-year tax holidays and the Crown-Wijeratne joint venture, which they say is an evasion of government pledges not to issue new casino licenses. They’ve called for an accounting and a full debate in Parliament, neither of which has occurred, and they don’t have the votes to make them occur, but they are kicking up a fuss. How far they’ll take it remains to be seen. Earlier this year, Mr Rajapaksa fired the nation’s Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayake after his supporters in Parliament voted to impeach her in a process the country’s highest US$3 billion in tourism-related investment is the goal over the next three years. Source: HVS South Asia Colombo Hotel Occupancy Marketwide Average Rates (US$) Marketwide Occupancy (%) Average Rates (US$) 100 80 60 40 20 0 2009/10 2010/11 2011/12 120 140 62% 61% 60% 59% 58% 57% 63% 64% 68 86 120 Occupancy (%) 60% 64% 62%