Travis Gomez, CFA

With many countries cautiously opening up their borders to tourism, our Product head, Travis Gomez spoke about the common experiences of countries which have opened up for tourism and its implications for the future on the Market Segment of Business Today on Channel Eye - March

"High end tourism for the first half of 2020 can continue to remain challenging"

Here's our product head Travis Gomez with his take on the prospects for the tourism industry in 2020.

What would life be like post-COVID?
What are the present implications on the Sri Lankan and global economy?
What are the challenges faced by Tourism, Banking, Real Estate and much more?
What would the future economic forecasts be?
What would be the opportunities for budding entrepreneurs?

Despite the disruptions caused by social and political unrest, the tourism industry more or less managed to meet its targets in 2018. Here's our Product Head, Travis Gomez, with more on the performance of the industry in 2018 and what needs to be done in 2019.

After two years of uncertainty and low growth, Sri Lanka’s economy is expected to have a better run in 2018 and beyond, driven by consumer demand, increasing government spending and a pick-up in exports with GSP Plus trade concessions to the EU taking effect, according to Frontier Research.

Population forecasts show that by 2040 the population in Sri Lanka will be close to 24 million with the uptick in fertility rates. However, when it comes to non communicable diseases, there seems to be an upward trend which is responsible for 1/5 deaths. There will also be a sharp rise in the aging population in by 2040. This calls for attention when it comes to pension and adult care schemes. Female labour participation will also need to be encouraged to ward off potential labour shortages in the future.

The Inland Revenue act that the government has introduced is looking at accessibility for the tax payer by means of technology. However, its implementation is questionable do to administrative weaknesses. The Securities and Exchange Commission act is looking at broad-basing the regulatory coverage.

Recently foreigners have highlighted issues such as harassment, over-charging on online platforms. Proper regulation of tour guides, promotion of budget airlines and strategies for sustainability of tourist attractions were discussed.

Sri Lanka’s new Foreign Exchange Act came into effect last year after the Parliament passed it with amendments. The new law removed criminalisation of violations of the exchange control act and associated prison sentences. New Act covers matters including classes of capital transactions, opening and maintenance of accounts, permitted investments and granting of loans and advances.

Tourist arrivals has seen a trend of shifting from Western Europe to East Europe, India and China etc. Focus needs to made on branding Sri Lanka tourism in the future.

A discussion on the opportunities and challenges currently faced by the Sri Lankan Tourism industry.

Our product head of Equity Research, Travis Gomez, was recently featured on Channel Eye's Business Today program, where he discussed recent developments in the tourism sector and the potential for Colombo to be a Tourist hotspot.

Discussion on opportunities for firms on regaining GSP+ in Sri Lanka.

Moody’s Investors Service downgrading of three local commercial banks will not be having a major negative impact on the banking and financial sector in the country, Central Bank Deputy Governor Dr Nandalal Weerasinghe said.

Here's our Vice President, Travis Gomez, on how to conduct Industry Analysis using the Porter's Five Forces model during an interview with Channel Eye's Business Today program on 27.04.2016

At the onset of the Covid-19 outbreak, our Product head Travis Gomez shared some preliminary thoughts on what the impacts might be due to this development

Our Product Head, Travis Gomez, at a Webinar hosted by K Seeds Investments shares perspectives on some alternative realities that can take place in sectors in a Post COVID World

By now, most of us are aware that the Easter Sunday Attacks hit our tourism industry hard. Here's our Product Head, Travis, delving into the impacts of the attacks and to discuss what actions the government has taken to provide relief.

Following a month of fluctuations in Sri Lanka's political environment,here's Travis Gomez taking another look at it's possible impact on the tourism industry

A pick up in the tourism sector was seen with tourist inflows growing by 12.6% YoY. The improvements could be attributed to the marketing strategy that has been adopted in communicating a consistent message. the government has also made plans to decrease levys and give out VAT rebates to tourists which could also assist in the numbers growing in the future.

Microfianace sector is where you lend to the poorest sectors of the economy. Roughly Rs. 70 bn has been lent to this sector. Since the borrowers are highly exposed to financial vulnerability, this sector is something that needs to be closely monitored. However, microfinance is currently largely unregulated and as a first step, the Central Bank has introduced the Microfinance Act.

Although the government has made improvements to the Inland Revenue Act, the Securities and Exchange Commission Act and the Foreign Exchange Act, the government has been quite slow to implement the progressive policies that have been highlighted in them. So at a policy level these acts have been well received by most parties however, there will be higher costs to the public in the interim when adopting the changes that have been proposed.

Tourism has fared well over the 1st three months of the year, but certain incidents have led to the voice of control to regulate informal tourism establishments.

The investment limit for listed companies has been increased from USD 500,000 per year to USD 2 mn per year. Firms also have the opportunity to invest in sovereign bonds and Unit Trusts abroad.

Overall there has been a reduction in the restrictions imposed on individuals.

Sri Lanka tourism fell just short of the target for 2016, however the overall trajectory is to reach 4.5 Mn arrivals by 2020. There has been a shift in source countries from Western countries to countries such as India and China which has provided opportunities in cultural and experiential tourism.

Discussion on the new SEC directives

An analysis of the Sri Lankan tourism sector

Here's our Vice President, Travis Gomez, with an overview on understanding the key performance indicators of a bank during Channel Eye's Business Today program on 01.06.2016

Are investors overreacting to what’s happening here and in global markets? Vice President of Frontier Research Travis Gomez gives his views

"The stock market was more or less flat in 2019 but we are more positive on the outlook for the ASPI in 2020" To hear more about our view here's our product head Travis Gomez speaking on the topic.

Here is our Product Head, Travis Gomez on recovery of tourism sector in Sri Lanka post Easter 2019.

A hit to Sri Lanka's tourism industry was expected ensuing the Easter Sunday attacks in April. But how long will it take to bounce back? What factors affect its resilience? Here's our Product Head, Travis, shedding some light on the matter.

Up until October 2018, Sri Lanka's tourism industry was flourishing, but did the month long political crisis have a lasting impact on the sectors outlook? Find out here in this interview with Travis Gomez!

Doubts have been raised about the merits of the government's price control practices, and the report titled "Price Control in Sri Lanka: Political Theater" by Advocata Institute dives further into this topic. Providing an overview and analysis of the impact of price controls on the cement, pharmaceuticals,and dairy industries, here's what our Product Head, Travis Gomez had to say! Visit https://www.facebook.com/advocatainstitute/videos/296215140978601/ to check out the full video of the report launch!

The introduction of the Withholding tax on deposits can be seen as an attempt to widen the tax net. Economic growth was adversely impacted last year largely due to the slowdown in the agricultural sector due to adverse weather impacts. However, at present, since Sri Lanka's labour force is more service oriented. We can see a growth in KPOs and BPOs. Sri Lanka's biggest opportunity right now is the tourism sector which is showing great signs of potential growth. However, what we need to focus on is getting access to the Niche markets to drive economic growth and which sector drives it is more or less irrelevant.

Evaluation of recent health trends in Sri Lanka and the opportunities and challenges it creates for the Health Sector. Trends such as rising fertility rates beyond replacement levels, spread of Non - Communicable diseases, and rise of ageing populations were discussed.

The act signals a more open approach to Forex where the act broadens the type of investment opportunities non-residents can participate in.

The act reduces ambiguity in terms of legal definitions and have reduced the overall complexity of the forex process. Further the act streamlines the process by giving commercial banks autonomy, and allowing liscensed exchange brokers to operate in the forex market.

As a whole, the 2018 budget was oriented towards fiscal consolidation and the targets seem realistic, but it lacked focus in terms of aspects such as debt repayment. Tourism, Power and Energy and Real estate sectors saw positives through this budge while. Banking, Telecommunications and Automobile industry have seen increased regulations

Sri Lanka has experienced a steady economic growth of 6.4% between 2010 and 2015. However, the country’s economy isn’t faring so well right now. Considering the current economic climate, this discussion in an analysis of where the country’s tertiary sector stands in 2017, as well as the challenges and growth they are currently experiencing.

Four equity analysts including Frontier Research's Travis Gomez joined a roundtable discussion at Echelon to discuss equity strategy for 2017. They were asked them if portfolio managers should start switching to equity from the guaranteed risk-free double-digit returns offered by bonds.

Travis Gomez, was featured on Channel Eye's Business Today program on the 5th of October 2016. Here is an excerpt from the program where he discusses the real estate market, the effect of credit growth on the construction sector and the outlook for the sector.

Many users of telecom services in Sri Lanka after a while tend to stick with their respective mobile service provider. This tends to be the case even when rival service providers offer attractive incentives such as free minutes, free messaging, etc.

The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) launched its first in a series of inter-generational dialogues on the shifting population dimensions in Sri Lanka and its significance in shaping future policies.