Managing visitor traffic for Sri Lanka’s iconic species
On August 1, Sri Lanka’s celebrates Sri Lanka Leopard Day, Sri Lanka Leopard Day, which is celebrated annually, was declared based on a proposal put forward by The Wildlife and Nature Preservation Society of Sri Lanka (WNPS), Sri Lanka’s oldest (and the world’s third oldest) nature protection society.
The leopard has become a tourism icon and has directly and indirectly generated significant tourism revenues and also created jobs in wildlife tourism. It has also become the subject of several scientific projects from those who are working full time in academia or conservation NGOs as well as those who are engaged in Citizen Science. One example of the interest in leopard studies is the LOLC and WNPS Multi-Regional Monitoring System for the Conservation of the Sri Lankan Leopard.
Starting in the early 2000s, I was amongst a group of people who popularised Sri Lanka as a destination for leopard safaris. Not surprisingly, I am often asked about the situation which is occurring where a group of safari vehicles congregate near a resting leopard creating an ill-tempered traffic jam of jostling safari vehicles. This creates a bad experience for visitors and is damaging to the Sri Lanka tourism brand. What can be done?
A simple and practicable and workable solution is to space out visitors spatially and temporally. There is no magic in this. For a few decades now, museums and other visitor attractions around the world have been issuing visitors with tickets that can be purchased online which work on a timed entry basis. National parks and reserves in other parts of the world have also implemented routes and times, which limit the number of vehicles or visitors. They can also be subject to differential pricing. It may be time to trial these solutions at one or more of the Sri Lanka national parks after due consultation with local stakeholders. The possible actions to consider include defined routes with limit on the number of vehicles in each route, timed entry and differential pricing. Any actions implemented needs to strike a sensible balance between having the desired outcome and not being too complicated for people to use.
A simple model
For the purpose of illustration, let’s say for example, a national park has two routes, A and C. The key point in defining the routes is that they have a more or less equally good chance of seeing iconic species as a leopard or elephant or sloth bear.
So, there can be no criticism that it is undemocratic and only the rich are offered a chance of seeing iconic animals. The key element here is that the routes differ in the number of vehicles that are permitted during the course of the day. The routes should as at present have resident and foreign rates. I am not proposing rates or the limits on the numbers of vehicles in this article. However, for ease of illustration only, I have conjured up some numbers for the ticket prices and vehicle limit numbers.
Route A, can be for those who are very keen wildlife enthusiasts and wildlife photographers who want an experience as little disturbed as possible by other vehicles. Let’s say, for example, on Route A, only a maximum of 25 vehicles are allowed and the foreign entrance ticket is USD 150 per person.
For residents and Sri Lanka nationals, it should be much lower, say for example Rs 3,000. A keen leopard photographer can either directly or through a tour operator book one of the limited vehicle entry tickets and also purchase individual passenger tickets. I don’t want to get mired in the details, but let’s assume the finer details can be worked out. For example, if initially the vehicle is booked for 2 people, but 4 people arrive, let’s assume tickets can be bought for the extra two people, at the relevant rates based on age (adult/child) and residency status (local/foreign). Let’s also assume that each route will have their own vehicle entry prices. Further enhancements are possible, for example, those paying the premium rate on Route A can be allowed to go in half an hour earlier and allowed to leave half an hour later to reduce the mad scramble to enter and leave the park. Other variations can include changes in the periods of operation. For example, Route A can only be in effect on certain days of the week or during defined months of the year when visitation is high. But for now, let’s leave the detail for later and focus on the general concept.
Cheaper route
Is a higher ticket price unfair and pricing out those who are less affluent? No. Those who can’t afford this can opt for a cheaper ticket on Route B which also allows an equally good chance of seeing animals. Albeit, that the cheaper route will have more vehicles on the route. The choice of route is also not about having the money, it also depends on what you want and what would be sensible to pay for that.Let’s imagine that Route B allows 200 vehicles and is priced at USD 50 (much lower for residents and Sri Lankans).It makes no sense for a foreign birdwatcher to take Route A at USD 150 when Route B will be just as good.
A keen birder, may elect to start the day just before day break, by first birdwatching in the grounds of the lodge, followed by breakfast at 8am and then at 9am be ready go into the park and look for other birds
The differential pricing on the routes and times allows people to tailor their payment to the experience they want. Route B during off peak hours will likely be the preferred route for local people on coach trips on a pilgrimage and detouring to sightsee Yala as a park. These locals can have a ticket price similar to what they pay now and there should be no concern of pricing out local people on low incomes.
Is this difficult to implement? No. Sri Lanka has a high mobile phone user penetration. We saw the use of phone apps for queuing for fuel during the economic crisis in 2022.People from all walks of life use various mobile phone apps linked to their bank accounts. Some of the world’s best tech companies have their software developers based in Sri Lanka. It should be easy to have tour operators and members of the public buy tickets online via a web interface or a phone app.
The issue of visitor management is a problem that has been solved many times by park authorities from around the world in different ways. Sri Lanka can easily adopt a technology-based solution and use its in-country expertise in software development. Various permutations are possible and, in this article, I have only sketched out an outline of the possibilities. It should be possible to implement new ticketing methods which create a better experience for wildlife and people without diminishing revenues for the park and local service providers. The most important thing would be to socialise these ideas and win buy-in from the local service providers, state agencies and the tourism industry.
Gehan de Silva Wijeyeratne is amongst a handful of field naturalists in the world who have written and photographed field guides spanning terrestrial mammals, marine mammals, birds, butterflies, dragonflies, wildflowers and trees. He has been published by international publishers including Bloomsbury, Bradt, John Beaufoy and New Holand. He has written and photographed over 25 books and over 400 articles. He has been the Chair of the London Bird Club for eight years and is also a Trustee of the British Ornithologists’ Club.
This article first appeared in the Sunday Observer on the 28th of July 2024.