Sri Lanka Tourism scuttled by state of emergency
A country's reputation can have a huge impact on its success as a tourist destination. Travelers will often have a preconceived idea about a place, taken from the news and images presented by media and from information and travel advisories released by their own governments.
That Sri Lanka is economically bankrupt is widely known internationally. The world is equally aware that the country is facing enormous difficulty in providing adequate fuel, gas, medicines and an uninterrupted supply of electricity to its people. For Sri Lankans, staying in queues for days and enduring hours of daily power cuts is now the new normal. Hyper-inflation has shot up prices of almost everything including food and milk which is rapidly becoming scarce. Since March this year, a significantly large proportion of the population has been driven below the poverty line.
In the meantime, the recent uptick in COVID-19 cases can also be viewed with anxiety, despite the Chairman of the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA) assertion that it will neither severely hinder the country’s tourism sector nor develop into an outbreak - if every precaution is taken including the re-introduction of the mask mandate by the island’s Director General of Health Services.
Fueling the future of tourism
Driven by the jet fuel shortage, with airlines been asked to carry fuel for their return journeys as the jet fuel stocks in the country are in short supply along with fund repatriation issues as a result of the foreign exchange crisis, airlines have halved air seat capacity to Sri Lanka by 53%. This presents another challenge for the country’s struggling tourism industry. It also translates to higher airfares, making travelling to Sri Lanka expensive.
In the midst of all these, a notification issued last month by the President’s office, explaining that it is, “expedient to declare a state of emergency in the interests of public security, the protecting of public order and the maintenance of supplies and services essential to the life of the community”- doesn’t exactly bode well or restore any confidence to visit.
When this is the case, pushing out a positive image of the country to promote tourism is never going to be easy.
Ilzaf Keefahs is a freelance writer who enjoys focusing on hospitality related matters that he is passionate about, and likes to share his views with hoteliers and customers alike. He delves into the heart of hospitality to figure out both customer service and consumer trends that impact the industry.
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