Risk & Crisis Management in Tourism Sector:
Recovery from Crisis
in the OIC Member Countries
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The government also launched a PR initiative in 2011 to promote domestic tourism, with one
attraction or festival announced eachmonth of the year. A declaration by the President emphasized
freedom of travel in a peaceful country. School Travel Clubs were established in order to motivate
students to appreciate the cultural and natural heritage of their own country through travel.
Another campaign to acquaint domestic tourists with their country was themed ‘Lovingly Sri
Lanka’. This programme focused on lesser known attractions andworked partly through video clips
on social media and television. Meanwhile, several religious destinations are being targeted for
development of domestic tourism in order to benefit the local communities in these areas. To keep
accommodation affordable for domestic travellers the government has worked on upgrading some
bungalows and guest-houses and encouraged the expansion of homestays (Ministry of Economic
Development, 2011). The outcome of these activities has been increased spending by domestic
tourists: Mann and Goel (2014) showed that domestic travel spending accounted for 52.1% of the
direct travel and tourism GDP in 2013.
The tourism promotional plan of 2016 targeted 2.2 million visitors, with an average daily
expenditure per person of up to US$ 200, and total tourism revenue for the year of US$ 2.75 billion.
To achieve those objectives the authorities proposed to appoint PR agencies for major source
markets. Although the arrival figures were not quite achieved, with an actual total of 2.05 million
visitors, receipts exceeded the expected revenue, at US$3.518 billion (UNWTO, 2017). Improved
online and digital marketing was implemented, including inviting bloggers to give first-hand
publicity based on their experiences. Web-based booking and tour planning services were
expanded, while traditional tools such as familiarization tours and participation in travel fairs
continued.
5.4.3. Critical Success Factors in Resilience of Sri Lanka Tourism
Sri Lanka is extremely rich in natural, cultural and heritage based resources. As explained above,
Sri Lanka’s tourism sector suffered severely during the war which lasted for almost three decades,
while the natural disaster of 2004, fragmentation of responsibilities and the changes of policies in
the country also contributed to the problems. While recovery after the tsunami was swift, further
growthwas hindered by continuing fighting. After the end of thewar, however, tourism in Sri Lanka
bounced back quickly to become a leading source of foreign exchange. Several factors have helped
Sri Lanka tourism to recover and grow fast after the war:
 The Government is showing good leadership through its strong commitment to
supporting tourism, and the peaceful and optimistic environment since the end of the
conflict in 2009 has contributed to the quick recovery of tourism to become one of Sri
Lanka’s fastest growing economic sectors. The rapid rise in tourist arrivals after the
conflict was due to implementation of a number of policies and promotional strategies,
including launching of the Tourism Development Strategy 2011-2016 by the Ministry of
Economic Development.