Recovery for Sri Lanka tourism is going to be long and arduous
According to Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, in an interview with The New York Times, “Americans will be allowed into European Union countries starting this summer. Because one thing is clear: All 27 member states will accept, unconditionally, all those who are vaccinated with vaccines that are approved by E.M.A.”
The American vaccination program has been so successful that the unthinkable even a few months ago has happened. As of end April 2021, 31% of the US population has been fully vaccinated (i.e. received two doses), compared to 3.5% worldwide.
So much for American competence… despite getting it horribly wrong during the greater part of last year.
If 2020 was making sure we stood firm to weather the COVID-19 pandemic, 2021 is about getting the house in order…for recovering lost ground and growing the business.
Unfortunately, we in Sri Lanka seem to have done this in reverse. COVID-19 has caught us napping – and this in the second year running…and, like in all other matters of national importance, many decisions are done on the fly and operational execution is figured out later. Thus the virus surges, whilst we await the vaccines. Sri Lanka’s scorecard reads; 934,000+ doses given. 0.4% fully vaccinated.
Thirteen months after the onset of the coronavirus, so much for our competence.
For Sri Lanka’s tourism industry there’s little to be optimistic about. Travel won’t simply bounce back as we thought it would. For us it is looking more and more like the “mother of all marathons”, whilst for some other countries, like Israel, it could be a sprint.
Meanwhile, the Maldives is pushing towards been labeled as one of the safest destinations in the world for travelers. The launch of ‘I’m Vaccinated’ – aims to promote the health and safety initiatives taken, but also, tell everyone of the vaccination of staff working in the tourism sector. Under this campaign, the ultimate target is to make Maldives the first fully vaccinated tourism sector in the world - in its bid to attract 1.5 million visitors during 2021.
Shafeek Wahab – Editor, Hospitality Sri Lanka, Consultant, Trainer, Ex-Hotelier
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