Sri Lanka has the potential to enter into the US $1 billion dollar international whale watching industry and has already entered into a joint venture with John Keells Holdings on a profit sharing basis to promote tourism in whale watching off the West, South and East coasts.
"We have already started the project in Galle, Kirinda, Mirissa and Panadura. The harbour in Chilaw will be ready in two months, and then whale watching will be introduced there as well. We hope to introduce it to Trincomalee soon after the provincial council elections," said Neomal Perera, Deputy Minister of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources.
Perera said that the National Aquatic Resources Research and Development Agency (NARA) will provide the vessels and technology.
"There are whales living in Sri Lanka’s waters and they are not migratory whales as the tropical conditions are more to their liking and they have been living in pods in our waters. The Blue whale is one of them. NARA had documented the whales and their behaviour and also the necessary technology to locate the whales," he said.
Perera pointed out however that the present situation in the country is not going to make it possible to attract enough tourists.
"Because of the country’s situation, the tourists who arrive to Sri Lanka are not the high spenders. Whale watching is a whole-day affair and will be costly. You need to locate the whales before putting off to sea and this requires the use of technology, which NARA will provide, so maintenance is going to be high."
He said that the Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Ministry is spearheading this campaign although it should be done by the Tourism Board.
"We don’t have the financial resources to carry out an advertising campaign to attract the high-end tourists. But if the Tourism Board could join JKH and the Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Ministry, this could easily be solved," Perera said.
A spokesman for JKH told the Island Financial Review that as far as introducing whale watching to Chilaw and Trincomalee was concerned that it was not part of the joint venture, "The government may go on their own perhaps," he said.
As far as marketing was concerned JKH is confident that they can attract the numbers through their network of tour operators worldwide.
"We are handling the sales and promotional aspects of the joint venture and all our foreign tour operators are all on board to promote Sri Lanka as a whale watching destination. We will also promote this at special focus international fairs," he said.
Whale watching is seasonal because of the monsoons which makes it unsafe to go out to sea so JKH will be filling in reservations for the November 2008-April 2009 season. Promotions will also be done locally because JKH hopes to establish a corporate clientele as well.
Scientists are debating on whether Sri Lankan waters are indeed host to resident whales, or are they migratory visitors on their way to calmer waters.
