Sri Lanka Tourism - getting it all...alright, is important
Early this year, Sydney’s Lowy Institute recently assessed almost 100 countries on six criteria, including confirmed cases, COVID-19 deaths, testing metrics, etc. and ranked Sri Lanka 10th most effective in handling COVID-19 pandemic. This is good news.
Equally good news is the roll out of multiple vaccines. The vaccine is a very, very exciting step -- the first brick in rebuilding everything from scratch. All this means that the guarded optimism that surfaced towards the end of last year is slowly been replaced by an acceptance that 2021 is going to be a little better.
Post-vaccine, it will all hinge on the airlines to lay on flights and making certain that Sri Lanka as a destination is ready.
For starters, Sri Lanka has done well to heed the World Travel & Tourism Council’s (WTTC) call to abandon the concept of “high-risk countries” and focus on how individual “high risk travelers” are treated at borders. This is a laudable first step.
As a prelude to attracting the international traveler, Sri Lanka has clearly defined its approach to risk assessment. It has laid out a comprehensive road map that includes a rigid and comprehensive testing regime, covering the pre-arrival, arrival and post-arrival stages of the visitor’s journey. This is less expensive than the economic cost bought on by blanket quarantines. It also ensures that only those affected are forced to isolate, while travelers who test negative can continue to enjoy safe travels through observing hygiene protocols and mask wearing. Well and good…thus far.
Worryingly though, Sri Lanka’s Health Services Director General Dr. Asela Gunawardena via a letter dated 24 February warned SLTDA that area MOHs have reported that international travelers visiting the country in many instances are not adhering the guidelines issued by the Health Ministry for tourism to secure the health status of the Sri Lankans. When asked, SLTDA also admitted that they have received several complaints about protocol violations by certain ‘Safe and Secure’ service providers.
As of mid-last month, there were 97 Level 1 hotels and 107 other hotels certified as 'Safe and Secure’.' It accounts to 11,540 rooms, which is around 30% of the total room capacity in the country.
Meaningless comparisons and confounding statistics
Since the airport opened on January 21, 2021, Sri Lanka has welcomed a total of 5,048 tourists for the first two months of the year. Kazakhstan, Ukraine and Germany were the top 3 markets. Compared with the 207,507 arrivals in February last year, the 3,366 travelers who arrive last month were a mere 1.6% over that recorded in the corresponding month of the previous year.
Hence, churning out ‘same month /year on year’ comparisons for at least the first half of 2021 will be totally meaningless. Instead, it would be more sensible to monitor the momentum in the market on a month-to-month basis and study the trajectory. Is the upward trend as planned or is there a need to do more?
The Central Bank revealed last month that cumulative earnings from tourism during 2020 has been estimated at US$ 957 million, and went on to announce that it expects US$ 1.75 billion as tourism earnings this year. However, the country’s tourism authorities project that tourism earnings could reach US$ 500 million this year, while the government expects at least US$1 billion. All what this does is confound the industry…not healthy at all.
Shafeek Wahab – Editor, Hospitality Sri Lanka, Consultant, Trainer, Ex-Hotelier
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