Backpacker presence in large numbers here

A woman backpacker before exploring the lenth and breadth of Sri Lanka on a rented motorcycle

Sri Lanka is turning out to be a backpackers heaven with large numbers from this genre of tourists visiting the different tourist resorts in the country and finding cheap accommodation which is freely available.
Siri de Silva, Immediate Past President of Association of Small and Medium Enterprises in Tourism said "In the last few weeks a large number of backpackers were seen in Ella, Bandarawela, Nuwara Eliya,Kandy and to a lesser extent in other parts of the country.

These tourists would leave for the beaches of Arugam Bay where they would sometimes stay for a couple of weeks or longer and some of them may leave for the beaches in the south."

Their presence is a boon to low budget accommodation providers, specially the unregistered accommodation providers and restaurants. They could woo the backpackers as the prices they offer would suit the low budgets of this category of tourists . Tourism authorities should ensure these unauthorised operators to register with the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority.

Backpackers, essentially belonging to a price conscious heterogeneous group that have found that Sri Lanka offers accommodation to suit their purse with a plethora of sites of religious, historical and tourist interest.

A senior tourism official said that though backpacker tourism had been criticised in the past for various reasons including their behaviour by tourists from other segments , today this type of tourism had improved to a great extent and become acceptable to mainstream tourists.

Also the host countries gain from this type of tourists as they stay in a country for a longer
period than the main stream holidaymakers though they don’t spend much on food and beverages.

It has also become a cheaper mode of travelling to many whose budget doesn’t permit them to stay in star class hotels and travel in chauffeur driven cars, taxis or undertake organised package tours.

According to former ASMET President Siri de Silva, the most popular mode of transport of the packpackers is the tuk-tuk and the threewheeler drivers offer them very economical orgainsed tours to visit the tourist sites and resorts. Some of them prefer to pay a little more and discover a country riding on a motorcycle enjoying the thrills and spills it provides.

Anil Perera, former Vice Principal of the Ceylon Hotel School and senior hotelier was of the view that backpacker tourism need to be encouraged in Sri Lanka, but it need to be monitored by the authorities.

"Countries like Thailand, Laos and Cambodia have totally transformed their sleepy towns to meet the sudden influx of backpackers and there is no harm in Sri Lanka accommodating them," he said.

Harischandra Gunaratna