Tourism has seen an increase in Sri Lanka, with the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA) recording 2.1 million arrivals in 2016, up 14.0 percent from the previous year’s 1,798,380.
While the upward trend can be seen as an indicator that tourists are satisfied with their experience, there is some evidence, especially on user-generated websites like TripAdvisor, or on personal blogs, that some tourists are disenchanted with the price of some of the tourist sites.
‘Backpacker Lee’ in his blog post titled ‘India and Sri Lanka: Ripping off Johnny Foreigner’ writes, “Ever wondered why we, as foreigners, get charged up to 10 times more for admission to major tourist attractions in India and Sri Lanka? This has been a bugbear of mine for a long time, and the discrimination doesn’t show any sign of abating anytime soon.”
He accedes, “The belief is that the average “Johnny Foreigner” has more money to spend compared to the locals, therefore the price must vary accordingly. However, this is not a reasonable pricing structure and it, as you can imagine, draws a lot of criticism.” He adds “Some backpackers even blindly refuse to travel in Sri Lanka and India on principle.”
Sri Lanka has eight UNESCO World Heritage sites; Polonnaruwa, Sigiriya, Dambulla, Galle, Anuradhapura, Kandy, the Sinharaja Forest Reserve and the Central Highlands, and entrance to these vary from between USD 15-30 for a tourist, while locals are typically charged Rs. 60. Tourists from SAARC countries are also given a rather large discount.
Tourists at the rock fortress ‘Sigiriya’. Image courtesy mylankandream.com
It is this ‘unreasonable’ pricing scheme that is being criticized by certain tourists travelling Sri Lanka, with some resorting to underhand methods to gain access to certain sites. Michael Turtle in his blog Time Travel Turtle writes, “Constantly looking over my shoulder; lying to the police; surreptitious drive-bys. This isn’t how I imagined I would be seeing this World Heritage Site. My driver slows the car to a halt and I wind down the window and stick my camera out. Click. Then on we go. It doesn’t have to be like this.”
He explains in his blog post ‘Why is Sri Lanka so expensive?’, that he didn’t buy a ticket to see Anuradhapura the ‘right’ way, because he didn’t feel the entrance fee added value for money “The reason I didn’t buy a ticket to see the ancient city of Anuradhapura is not because I couldn’t afford it. It was more about value. I was passing through for just an hour or two and was limited with my time. Buying a day pass to see all the parts of the city was going to be a waste. If it had been cheaper, I probably wouldn’t have minded, but it seemed hard to justify at that price.”
The Central Cultural Fund (CCF) which manages the ‘Cultural Triangle’ – Anuradhapura, Polonnaruwa, Sigiriya, Dambulla, and Kandy, justifies the levy imposed on tourists, saying it was on par with tourist attractions in other countries. CCF Working Director Karunaratne Herath speaking to Roar Media said, “Compared to other countries in the world, this is not a big amount. Look at other ancient monuments in the world, they charge just as much—if not more.”
A tourist at the ‘vatadage’ (circular relic house) in Polonnaruwa. Image courtesy matthewwilliamsellis.photoshelter.com
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