Sri Lanka must move beyond simply chasing higher tourist volumes and focus on evidence-based, sustainable and higher-value growth, Australian High Commissioner Matthew Duckworth and New Zealand High Commissioner David Pine said, as both countries pledged deeper engagement with the island’s tourism industry.
Addressing the 46th Annual General Meeting of the Sri Lanka Association of Inbound Tour Operators (SLAITO) last Friday, both envoys framed tourism as extending beyond its immediate economic contribution, positioning travel as a mechanism for boosting people-to-people links, trade and investment.
Duckworth said Sri Lanka was at a pivotal point in its tourism journey, with renewed international interest, strong natural and cultural assets and improving access to tourism data.
‘The question for all of you isn’t whether Sri Lanka will grow as a tourism destination. It’s how it will grow, and how you want your industry to shape the future of tourism in this country,’ he said.
Drawing on Australia’s own tourism experience, Duckworth cautioned that natural attractions alone were insufficient to guarantee sustainable growth.
He said Australia had learned that environmental protection, community participation and reliable data had to be embedded in tourism planning rather than treated as secondary considerations.
‘For a long time, Australia didn’t get this entirely right,’ he said, noting that the sector had once been fragmented, with inconsistent marketing, limited data and planning driven by short-term opportunities.
Australia subsequently adopted approaches including visitor limits, environmentally sensitive accommodation, community engagement and systematic monitoring of tourism’s environmental, social and economic impacts.
‘Our destinations became more valuable not because they were heavily developed, but because they were carefully protected and managed through thoughtful planning and evidence-based policy,’ Duckworth said.
He also disclosed that Australia, through its local partner, was planning to work with SLAITO to strengthen the use of tourism data, including visitor exit surveys, to better understand traveller behaviour, spending patterns, motivations and expectations.
‘This shift underpins our partnership with Sri Lanka too. Because truly understanding your market is essential to growing it well,’ he said.
The Australian envoy highlighted the rapid expansion of travel between the two countries, saying over 100,000 Australians visited Sri Lanka last year. He pointed to the launch of Jetstar’s direct Melbourne-Colombo service in August as a significant development, with the route already operating at between 90% and 95% capacity.
‘The link between Colombo and Melbourne, connecting the world’s largest and second-largest Sri Lankan diaspora communities, is a real opportunity for everyone to build on,’ he said.
Duckworth said tourism was already contributing around 8% of Sri Lanka’s GDP and over 10% of foreign exchange earnings, while supporting more than 200,000 direct jobs and substantially more indirectly.
He also stressed that sustainability could have a direct commercial value, noting that Australia had found visitors were willing to pay more for authentic, low-impact experiences.
‘So sustainability became, for us, not just an environmental choice; but a commercial one,’ he said.
Duckworth said Australia would continue supporting Sri Lanka’s efforts to build an inclusive, sustainable and globally competitive tourism sector.
He said Australia has invested around $ 50 million over the past decade in development cooperation linked to tourism, including support for tourism policy, resilience planning, skills development and greater participation of women and marginalised groups in the sector.
‘We stand with you and we will continue working with this sector to help empower you to deliver for this country,’ Duckworth said.
New Zealand High Commissioner David Pine described tourism as ‘one of the most powerful forms of diplomacy, noting that it allows people to experience another country not through headlines or secondhand impressions, but through direct, lived experiences like meeting local people, tasting local food, and engaging with local culture firsthand.
He said this kind of genuine understanding between citizens is what ultimately strengthens bilateral relationships far beyond what Government agreements or business partnerships alone can achieve, making tourism a cornerstone of New Zealand’s broader vision for its ties with Sri Lanka.
Pine also outlined a sharp rise in New Zealand visitor numbers following a joint push to expand the market.
From a low base of around 6,000 arrivals, Sri Lanka recorded more than 13,000 New Zealand visitors last year, with the figure projected to reach 20,000 this year. The High Commissioner said the longer-term target remained 50,000 annual arrivals, potentially within three to five years.
Pine said the focus should not be limited to visitor numbers, but should also encompass higher standards, sustainability and inclusion.
He identified awareness of Sri Lanka in New Zealand as one of the biggest constraints to the bilateral relationship, despite strong goodwill and positive experiences among those who visit.
‘If I had to identify the single biggest challenge facing the New Zealand-Sri Lanka relationship today, it would be awareness,’ Pine said.
He said promotional cooperation involving the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau (SLTPB), including the inclusion of New Zealand in Australian promotional programs, was helping expand the market, while brands such as Dilmah were also contributing to awareness of Sri Lanka among New Zealand consumers.
Pine said annual growth rates in New Zealand arrivals had been between roughly 67% and 100% over the past year, describing the trend as evidence of the potential available in the market.
He also noted that visitor flows could become a catalyst for broader economic engagement.
‘Tourism becomes business, business becomes investment, investment creates opportunities, and the entire relationship grows stronger,’ Pine said.
He pointed to next year’s Sri Lankan cricket tour of New Zealand, marking the centenary of the first cricket match between the two countries, as an opportunity to raise bilateral awareness. ‘School and university sports tours, rugby links and business networks established through sporting connections were also helping deepen ties,’ he added.
The High Commissioner noted they look forward to continuing their work together to ensure more New Zealanders discover Sri Lanka, and vice versa, and that more people in both countries come to appreciate the opportunities this relationship holds.
‘That work is being made easier by the Jetstar service Matthew mentioned, which now connects seamlessly to New Zealand and we’re having some very interesting conversations with airlines about other ways to grow connectivity between our two countries. The potential in this relationship is vast. Our task is simply to make sure more people can see it,’ Pine said. – (CdeS)