The tourism industry from the perspective of an employer will take over a decade to recover to normalcy. The industry has faced over 100 million job losses with over 63% of those jobs being lost in the Asia Pacific region.
My Online CEO Mahesh Yogarajan noted that given profitability in the industry it is going to be difficult to hire and retain trained staff. He further called on the industry to work together to advertise and that even smaller regions like Negombo could have all stakeholders come together and collectively advertise which would be mutually beneficial.
Yogarajan was speaking on June 18 on a webinar titled Technology Trends Emerging in the Travel & Tourism Industry organized by the European Chamber of Commerce. Santani Wellness Resort and Spa CEO Vickum Nawagamuwage noted that though internationally it wasn’t best to practice for high-end brands to be part of the booking.com and Expedia networks it was a necessity given the small scale of the Sri Lankan economy.
Santani has however been able to grow strongly through the assistance of large booking agents by building a brand both within the websites and also on external sites. Nawagamuwage noted how his company had gone beyond purchasing search results on Google and had been able to obtain positive endorsements from independent publications alongside search results for his brand. As part of a higher value-added industry, Nawagamuwage noted that the wellness subsector of the tourism industry was likely to recover faster. To remain relevant in the minds of customers he noted how wellness properties have gone online. He also noted a large amount of international financing from venture capitalists in the wellness space. Resplendent Ceylon Director Sales Chamindra Goonewardene noted how it was important for Sri Lankan companies to embrace the software as a service model. He said it was more effective for companies to purchase their IT solutions this way.
eMarketing Eye CEO Rajitha Dahanayake said that people are becoming more technology savvy and as a result, the growth of online interactions would increase.
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