Beach boys getting a new lease of life - November 2008

Today the Neptune Hotel, Beach Community Tourism Operators are being recognized at a special ceremony participated by the Chairman, Mr. Piyal Nishantha, Pradeshiya Sabha, Officials of the Ministry of Tourism, Management of the Aitken Spence Hotels, Tourism Development Authority, Members of the Bentota Beruwela Hotels Association, the Responsible Tourism Partnership including all other key stakeholders in the community including the clergy and various community leaders in Beruwela.  

This occasion marks the achievements of six months training of community beach operators on personal and professional development programme and the awarding of the certificates by the Responsible Tourism Partnership in association with the Neptune Hotel Beruwela and the Travel Foundation United Kingdom. A number of former beach boys are now trained community tourism providers.   

General Manager of the Neptune Hotel Samantha Gunaratne said “We have been building good community relations over a long period of time and joining the Responsible Tourism Partnership LINC programme has further strengthen our ties. We need to look after our guests well and leave no room for unsatisfactory situations. The locals that are depended on our hotel for livelihood understand this message and are very cordial in just doing that”. 

Sujith Yamasinghe, manager of the RTP LINC programme commented on the work carried out by saying “When the RTP started the LINC work in February 2006 in Beruwela Beach, we had a huge challenge ahead, there were nearly thousand beach boys and all of them wanting to do business with tourists, we observed this situation creating quite a lot of harassment. We started the pilot project at the Riverina Hotel with seventy two locals and were able to show that things could be done better. Our second Hotel is the Neptune Hotel, and the Neptune Hotel has always had good connections with the locals and because of this reason our task was made simple”.

Tourists welcome this initiative and feels that they are not been harassed by locals shouting and pestering them to buy various goods and services, instead tourists who want local tourism excursions can now talk to community tourism beach operators who are clearly identifiable in branded in corporate colours of Neptune Hotel and Responsible Tourism Partnership t shirts. This pilot project is already successfully in operation at the Riverina Beach and it is envisaged that the same process will be replicated with the support of the Bentota Beruwela Hotels Association to other hotels in the Beruwela region.

LINC which means Learning Involving and Nurturing community is all about minimizing hassle to tourists and offering a cultural exchange, providing opportunities for visitors to learn about local cultures and traditions and to share experiences, which would be difficult to find without local expertise.

According Ranga Jayalath, a participant of the LINC training, 32 year old local former beach boy married and having two children says “this is a very good opportunity to improve how we treat tourists and also improve our personal qualities. We have always had good relations with the hotel management and have worked cordially. This programme has helped us a lot to improve our knowledge and build stronger ties with the hotel. Our group of 19 beach operators will extend the maximum co-operation to the Neptune Hotel and the RTP LINC programme”. 

The Responsible Tourism Partnership works towards building a platform for sustainable tourism in Sri Lanka together with the UK based the Travel Foundation as its principle partner. As a pilot project the RTP has been closely working with the Bentota Beruwela Hotels Association (BBHA) gradually building a long term sustainable solution to one of the key issues facing our industry- hassle to tourists. This project has made a real difference and has enabled change negative practices and perceptions that prevailed throughout several decades. The RTP has also received the support of Kuoni, the British tour operator to Sri Lanka for this programme.

November 2008