Sri Lanka Tourism given target to bring US$ 500 million in next 6 months
Amidst dwindling reserves and the rapid local spread of the Covid-19 virus, the Ministry of Tourism has been given a target of $ 500 million in the form of tourism earnings to be brought into the country by the new Minister of Finance Basil Rajapaksa, The Morning Business exclusively learns.
During a recent meeting with the tourism officials, Rajapaksa has given said target to be achieved within six months, beginning from this month (August).
Tourism Ministry Secretary S. Hettiarachchi stated that in order to meet said target, the Ministry, together with the tourism authorities, is planning to implement a number of measures. “We were recently summoned before a committee chaired by Minister Basil Rajapaksa and given certain targets,” he said.
He noted that the Tourism Ministry is working towards the sustenance of the tourism industry. “We are also planning to create a bio-bubble with non-vaccinated Indian travelers, but (certain aspects) have to be consulted with the health authorities first. We are looking at Russian travelers as well.”
Travelers from India, and travelers who had a recent travel history to India, were banned from entering Sri Lanka after the swift spread of the Delta variant in India amidst fears of possible importation of the cases with said variant into Sri Lanka. The Civil Aviation Authority (CAASL) last week announced that Sri Lankans who arrive from India are allowed to enter the country, and a PCR test will be conducted on arrival. Subsequently, they permitted entry to fully vaccinated travelers from India.
The Tourism Ministry Secretary noted that the highest numbers of tourists who come to Sri Lanka are Indian nationals. Over the pandemic concerns, Sri Lanka, in fact, restricted Indian nationals arriving in the country. In terms of Indian nationals who arrive in Sri Lanka, Hettiarachchi said: “They (Indian nationals) come to visit casinos during the weekend which makes a foreign exchange income for the country, and for two days they spend quite a sum of money,” elaborating that allowing Indian nationals within a travel bubble would contain the spread of the virus, and at the same time, allowing an inflow of forex to the country.
On the contrary, Hettiarachchi highlighted the possibility that Sri Lanka would be declared a red listed country amidst the rising confirmed cases in Sri Lanka by European and other countries. A number of European and Middle Eastern countries have already red listed Sri Lanka at the moment. The Eastern part of the world, thus, would be taken into consideration for the continuation of the tourism industry of the country, explained the Ministry Secretary.
Sri Lanka’s tourism sector is among the top three foreign exchange-earning sources of the country. Even before the closure of the airport to mitigate the spread of the virus, Sri Lanka was struggling to attract tourists since the early weeks of last year, mainly due to stringent travel restrictions that were imposed in China, which is among the top five tourism-generating markets of Sri Lanka, and then the subsequent global spread of the virus.
Tourism arrivals had been gradually recovering after the Easter attacks last year and the reported arrivals into the country stood at 1.9 million in 2019, compared to 2.3 million in 2018. However, they once again began to decline following the virus.
Source: The Morning newspaper
Editor’s note:- Since this article appeared, Sri Lanka is in country-wide lockdown from 20th until 30th August 2021. The timelines and revenue target may change.
|
|
|
|
