An evaluation of communication network for the promotion of Japanese inbound tourism in Sri Lanka

Abstract

Tourism has been one of the world’s largest industries contributing to the global GDP of USD 856 billion in 2007, employing over 200 million people and accounting for over 903 million international tourist arrivals. Despite many endowed tourist attractions in Sri Lanka, when compared with the neighboring countries it is observed that the potential has not been fully utilized. Although the Japanese inbound tourism in Sri Lanka is within the first ten highest arrivals and there has been a significant increase in the average yield, the authorities and the stakeholders have not considered Japan as an important inbound tourist market despite Japan being ranked as the forth largest tourism spender in 2007 with USD 40,587 million. With the research conducted it was observed that the National Tourism Promotion Organizations and the key stakeholders of Sri Lanka Tourism have not yet clearly recognized the importance of the use of communication networks with modern technology in promoting Japanese inbound tourism in Sri Lanka. Japanese as the potential customers, they are highly tech savvy and with heavy reliance on the referral systems as the users of social networks and social media mainly communicated in their own language. Possible impacts of effective communications networks of destination promotion for Japanese inbound tourists are examined considering with the use of state of the art in communication networks to reach the new breed of customers with a view to meet their expectations efficiently and effectively.