What lies ahead for Sri Lanka's hospitality industry?
During the global onslaught of COVID-19 when it struck down everyone and everything that stood in its path, a very few hotels in Sri Lanka (too few to be counted with the fingers in one hand), barely broke even. The rest of the hotels posted huge losses.
Then after enduring over twenty dark months of the pandemic came the rebound. Slowly but surely, the tourists began to arrive, in smaller numbers which then gradually gathered momentum to rise appreciably from December last year. In January this year, Sri Lanka welcomed 82,327 tourists, and in February, the number of visitors climbed to 96,507. In the month of March 2022, the total number of visitors to Sri Lanka surpassed the 100,000 mark – for the first time after twenty four months. Indeed, a milestone for celebration and with it the anticipation of better things to come.
Just as the sun began to shine on Sri Lanka’ tourism ride to recovery, threateningly dark clouds of uncertainty descended to blot out the light at the end of the tunnel. The number of arrivals in April 2022, dropped steeply to total 62, 980. The downward trend was to the government’s declaration last month of a state of emergency following the protest at the President’s residence, which thereafter drew the public to the streets, demanding the administration to step down amidst worsening economic conditions, post-Independence.
Further trouble flared up, when pro-government supporters aggressively chased away young protesters who had peacefully carried out their campaign, camped outside the President’s office for more than 30 consecutive days. This unwarranted act of violence infuriated the public islandwide, who then reacted with fury, destroying property and vehicles belonging to several high profile lawmakers of the ruling party. All this a day after the declaration of a state of emergency was declared – the second within a month.
Hurriedly issuing a media release, a spokesman for the Ministry of Tourism stated that the previously planned promotional campaign will have to be started all over again from scratch. Assuring the safety of tourists until their departure, the secretary to the Ministry of Tourism has slammed the UK’s recent travel advisory as ‘nasty’. At the sametime, he goes on to say that they cannot encourage tourists to come and visit Sri Lanka at this volatile juncture. Reiterating further, the secretary to the Ministry of Tourism advises tourists in the country to remain in their hotel premises as the situation is unpredictable.
All in all, it does not augur well for Sri Lanka’s hospitality industry as it takes another knock-out blow, where attracting even 25,000 visitors this month is unlikely.
Hospitality Sri Lanka
|
|
|
|
