India, Sri Lanka’s largest inbound market, is looking for new places to visit. The ongoing political unrest in Sri Lanka threatens to destroy the country’s tourist industry, which is valued more than $3.6 billion and is the country’s third largest source of foreign money.
Sri Lanka’s tourist prospects had just begun to improve after a series of losses stretching back to pre-Covid days, but that recovery may now be short-lived.
In the midst of the country’s greatest economic crisis, Sri Lanka has seen a wave of anti-government protests over rising food, fuel, and medical shortages, as well as record power outages. On Sunday, the country experienced a social media blackout as a result of a curfew and declaration of a state of emergency.
In a correspondence dated April 4, a copy of which was examined by Skift, tourism secretary S Hettiarachchi reassured tour operators and visitors to Sri Lanka that the tourism ministry will endeavour to ensure an uninterrupted supply of gasoline and power to tourism.
“We will guarantee that the holiday experiences expected by visitors visiting Sri Lanka throughout the Easter weekend and beyond are delivered successfully,” he added.
Travelers and tour operators in Sri Lanka’s largest inbound market, India, are aware that they are on a tightrope. As a result, people are looking for new places to visit.
SOTC Travel, which operates in a variety of travel categories, including leisure travel, has seen that Indian clients are rescheduling their trips, with many selecting for short-haul locations such as Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Maldives, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, and Nepal.
“With simple access and great diversity, we do hope to see an improvement and resurgence,” Daniel D’Souza, president and country head Of vacations, SOTC Travel, stated.
According to a PTI report, Air India would reduce its India-Sri Lanka services from 16 to 13 flights per week from April 9 due to low demand.
The Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI), one of India’s largest travel trade organisations, will hold its 66th convention in Colombo from April 19 to 22.
The conference was announced during a big event in Delhi last month, with members of the Sri Lanka Association of Inbound Tour Operators (SLAITO) in attendance.
The conference, however, is currently in limbo, according to TAAI, because there isn’t much clarification on how things will move in light of the present circumstances. “We are in contact with the Sri Lankan Tourism Promotion Bureau, SLAITO, and the Indian High Commissioner in Sri Lanka, and expect to make a call in the next few days,” TAAI president Jyoti Mayal said.
While Mayal recognized that the tourism board has told them that tourists are welcome in the nation and that the unrest is limited to a few areas, she stressed the need of first understanding the ground realities.
Sri Lanka was one of the few places that welcomed visitors without quarantine a little more than a year ago, when governments across the world were exercising caution and maintaining rigorous border controls to keep tourists out.
The location was able to capitalize on the early opening.
Tourist arrivals in Sri Lanka surpassed 100,000 for the first time in two years in March 2022, bringing the total number of visitors to more than 280,000 from January to March. This meant that visitor arrivals in the first three months of 2022 had topped the 2021 arrival milestone, which stood at 194,000.
Inbound visitor visits in Sri Lanka totaled 1.9 million in 2019, down 1.8 percent from the previous year. Tourism was the third greatest foreign exchange earner for the country in 2019 with official tourist earnings estimated at $3.6 billion, compared to $4.3 billion in 2018. Leisure travel accounted for about 83 percent of the total number of inbound visitors.
Prior to Covid, India was Sri Lanka’s largest source market, and it remained so after Covid. With a 19 percent share of overseas arrivals in 2019, Indian tourists were the most common. The United Kingdom finished in second, with China coming in third.
However, the country’s present political unrest, along with the economic downturn, threatens to damage the tourist industry. Travel agencies are also apprehensive.
Thomas Cook (India) stated it has been in touch with its on-ground customers and is working closely with its local destination partners and airlines to make preparations for clients’ safe return to India.
“Our teams have also made sure that all customers, including corporate clients, who have bookings with us for immediate or future travel to Sri Lanka this month have been kept up to date on the situation,” Rajeev Kale, president and country head, holidays, meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions, visa – Thomas Cook, said (India).
Kale further stated that they will continue to communicate with local authorities and partners as they review the situation on a regular basis in order to provide the best possible advice to their clients.
