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Sri Lankan wildlife – a brand proposition?

Brunch Editor

By Srilal Miththapala

Sri Lankan wildlife has steadily become popular with tourists over the years with over 47% of all tourists arriving in 2018 visiting at least one wildlife park, up from 20% in 2015. This interest in Sri Lankan wild life has made wildlife tourism one of Sri Lanka’s major tourism offerings today. 

Today, the “gathering” of elephants at Minneriya National Park (during the months of May to September) is a must-see on the tourism itinerary, and is considered one of the great wildlife wonders of the world (http: http://natgeotv.com/asia/thegreatelephantgathering).

Similarly, whale watching along the coastal area of Kalpitiya and Mirissa is also popular tourism attractions today. The fact that one can see the largest mammal on land – the elephant – and the largest mammal that has ever lived on this earth – the blue whale – in one place in Sri Lanka, is another unique fact that is now being promoted. 

Hence, it would perhaps be an opportune time for Sri Lanka tourism to popularise and brand wildlife in Sri Lanka. 

Africa’s ‘Big Five’

Africa has successfully branded the “Big Five”, which comprises five of the most sought-after, and sometimes dangerous, aggressive, and iconic wild animals, to promote wildlife tourism. A trip to the wildlife parks in Africa is not complete if all these animals have not been sighted, and most visitors will go to great lengths to get a glimpse of these animals on their safari. This has given rise to the very popular brand the “Big Five of Africa”, which is now synonymous with Africa’s wildlife and tourism.  

The Big Five are:

Branding Sri Lankan Wildlife

In embarking to create a similar wildlife brand for Sri Lanka, one should first consider some basic marketing principles. 

Al Ries and Jack Trout’s famous studies on branding and positioning indicate that “positioning is what you do to get into the mind of the prospect, and to manipulate the wants that are already there in the prospect’s mind”.

Any marketer will tell you that a new brand is very difficult to create and needs effort, focus, time, and resources to launch and develop. The brand concept attributes and positioning have to be carefully thought through and strategically planned out before launching a brand campaign to promote it. 

“Piggybacking” is a strategy sometimes used by marketers to launch a brand with minimum effort and create maximum impact by leveraging the strength of an already existing, popular brand. This requires less effort and resources and in a way, by riding the “slipstream” of the main brand’s positioning, capitalise on the already prevalent “space” in the prospect’s mind.  

Hence, would it not be the wisest and the most strategically effective process to follow the Big Five, and brand Sri Lanka as the country where you can see the Big Four? 

Sri Lanka’s ‘Big Four’

Branding of wildlife attractions should include charismatic animals, the ease with which they can be viewed (observability index), and how well they can be seen without impediments (visibility index). In keeping with this basic concept, one can list out the following and make the best choice.  

It is clear from this analysis that the choice boils down to the following four:

These are all large mammals which have a great appeal to the general public and can create much interest in wildlife. The whole idea is that we will “ride” the “top of the mind” recall of the Big Five of Africa, which will help position Sri Lanka’s Big Four brand within the same field of perception of the wildlife tourist, and stimulate greater interest to visit the country. 

With Sri Lanka tourism slowly recovering after the pandemic, it is important that we create new avenues in sustaining this growth. 

In this context, Sri Lanka’s Big Four is, therefore, a timely and useful branding initiative to take forward and build upon, at this crucial juncture, to popularise Sri Lanka’s natural wonders to the world.

Footnote: Some of my colleagues have been promoting “Sri Lanka’s Big Five” by including two species of whales in the list ( the blue whale and the sperm whale). I believe that a branding list such as this should have only unique single species, and hence I would still go for Sri Lanka’s Big Four.  

Srilal Miththapala  is a member of the WNPS, he has been involved in Tourism for the past 30 years and was Past President of the Tourist Hotels Association of Sri Lanka (THASL). He is a fellow of both the Institute of Electrical Engineers, UK, and Fellow of the Institute of Hospitality, UK. During his free time he now pursues his passion for enjoying wildlife, the environment, and studying and observing wild elephants