An interview with Mr. Prabath Harshakumar, Head of Business Development and Assistant Vice President at John Keells Group.
John Keells Group is Sri Lanka’s largest business conglomerate. One of the group’s member companies is Walkers Tours. Walkers Tours is the leading destination management company in Sri Lanka. It has been in business since 1969 and the company has grown over the years. Mr. Harshakumar is the type of executive who travels a lot – and we pick his brains on tourism industry trends and how travel-for-work has helped to grow the business.
In your position in the company, are you required to travel a lot?
As the Head of Business Development for Asia, CIS, the Middle East and East Europe I am required to travel extensively to these areas.
When you travel, is it mostly for leisure or business?
Our primary business is inbound tourism; hence all our promotions and partners are overseas. Therefore, it is essential that I travel to countries under my purview to meet our existing partners and also to ascertain new business opportunities in those markets for us. All of my travel is business-oriented.
How often do you travel and where to?
At least I am out of the country for a week or 10 days for a month except for the peak months for tourism in Sri Lanka from December, January and February, when I try to avoid travelling to assist the ground operations. The countries I travel mostly to include China, Poland, Dubai, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Russia, Hong Kong and Czech Republic.
Do you find traveling for business enjoyable?
I enjoy travelling to other destinations on business as you get the opportunity of meeting new people and interacting with them.
How do your travels benefit your company?
My travel benefits the company in terms of the business I bring in from the countries I travel to. During my travel overseas, I do meet many tour operators and also attend many travel fairs and road shows arranged by Sri Lanka tourism where outbound travel agents are brought together under one roof. Currently we enjoy the highest leisure traffic into Sri Lanka from China and these are the results of strategies implemented and benefits of travel to meet people in person.
What are the benefits of traveling for you?
Though I travel on business I do have the privilege of visiting and seeing some of the important places of interest in most of these countries, whenever I get the slightest chance or breathing space.
Is the number of tourists to Sri Lanka growing each year?
Sri Lanka tourism has recorded a clear growth with the end of a 26-year conflict in the country in 2009. Last year the country recorded 1,005,000 arrivals and this year it surpassed to 1,275,000. This is the highest record in the history of Sri Lanka tourism and this trend will continue, in my belief.
The majority of tourists to Sri Lanka come from which countries?
The highest arrivals are from our immediate neighboring country, India, with 208,795 followed by traditional markets UK with 137,416, Germany 85,470 and Maldives 79,474. However we have seen a higher growth from Russia with 51,235 and China 54,288 year on year 80% & 96% respectively.
What are your plans to increase tourist numbers to Sri Lanka?
Sri Lanka Tourism together with the travel industry in the country has planned a series of promotions this year in Western European countries, China, Korea, India, Russia and a few CIS countries.
Is there any specific country you are targeting?
We are targeting more numbers from China and from the above figures you could clearly see that the Chinese are looking at Sri Lanka positively.
Do you think business people should travel a lot?
With the advance in technology, one might think it is not important to travel to other destinations. However, I am a firm believer that it is of paramount importance that personal selling or meeting people face-to-face is much stronger and more effective than any other mode of communication. Also, travelling and meeting people one-on-one gives both parties more confidence and builds greater trust in one’s partnership.
How has Walkers Tours become the leading management company in Sri Lanka?
The success of the company is our people and they make the difference serving many clients from different destinations all over the world. As dream sellers, we offer dreams to our valuable clients with superior service to give a memorable tour of the country.
Which countries do you love to visit?
I like to travel mostly to Far Eastern or East Asian countries such as China, Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand simply because of their diverse culture, great food (which is much closer to the food in Sri Lanka in terms of spices and variety) and the hospitable, friendly people.
Do you think people in general should travel?
As I stated, it is important that people should travel in general.
