Acknowledging the Locals - The ones who miss out.

by Inga Dale Steyn (United Kingdom (Great Britain))

Making a local connection Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka must be one of the most beautiful places I have ever travelled to. If an afterlife truly exists, I hope it’s in the mountains of Ella, beside a waterfall, oh and with endless supplies of fresh fruit, vegetables and coconuts. In real life, however, Sri Lanka is an island that is truly one of a kind. The island offers something for everybody, of all ages, from culture to nature to water sports, to nightlife and amazing culinary culture. You will also find majestic gems such as the sapphire stone and rose quartz. In January 2020, it was my second time traveling to Sri Lanka, this time I saw more the island has to offer. I visited the sacred city, Kandy, went on the infamous blue train from Kandy to Ella and soaked up the sun on the coastal towns. You can go on any travel blog, and every blog will share the same sentiments – Sri Lanka is a place you’ll fall in love with! Whenever I travel to places, I love getting to know the locals, and traveling to this Asian island was no different. Local Sri Lankans are always friendly and enjoy engaging in conversation. I love meeting locals and understanding their experiences and lived realities. I met this one fella, who worked at a hotel in Mirissa, a bustling coastal town, south of the island. He was a hard-working young man and supported his mother and grandparents. I had told him about the adventures I had in Ella and Kandy and asked him if he had ever visited those places. He explained to me that he’d never visited other parts of the island because he does not earn enough nor does he get enough days off. This was a common trend among a few of the locals that I spoke to in Sri Lanka. I believe that this is widespread globally – many locals do not enjoy the fruits of their own country. The locals that I engaged with had not left their home towns and one of the main reasons is that it’s too expensive to travel locally due to low salaries. Tourist attractions are expensive even if there are “special rates” for locals. The average Sri Lankan lives from paycheck to paycheck so it leaves very little room to visit places that are often featured on tourist blogs. For locals to visit other parts of their island would mean they would need a night’s accommodation – which is already set at tourist prices, and they would need a suitable method of transportation. Public transport may be possible if wherever they’re going to is within a convenient distance, otherwise, they would have to rely on a private driver – which again is set tourist prices. It certainly makes me feel guilty for traveling to places where the locals – the people who have rights over the land – can’t enjoy what their country has to offer. The responsibility lay in the hands of local government to ensure that locals have the opportunity to frequent the same spots as tourists. A good place to start is making all tourist attractions free to locals and encouraging hotels and hostels to offer discounted prices especially during low peak seasons. I strongly believe that this will build morale, especially among the poorer communities. Tourists should also be open to mixing with more locals and be supportive of enabling environments which is inclusive to everybody. Needless to say, it’ll never get to a point where locals can enjoy absolutely everything tourist related, especially in the culinary scene and nightlife. The tourism industry needs to make money for the country to benefit from it. It’s a bit of a double edged sword, because the tourism industry still needs to maintain safety. Granted, a level of security needs to be maintained so that crime does not become rampant in tourist areas. The more crime there is in any given area, the less tourists there’ll be. There is no formula for making countries more inclusive of the people who live there, especially people who come from poorer backgrounds. Perhaps it helps, as tourists, to acknowledge our privilege and the locals who don’t get a piece of that pie.