Recently, Sri Lanka Consulate Mumbai in association with Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau hosted an event in Mumbai and Delhi to discuss government’s strategies on boosting the island nation’s tourism following the deadly Easter attacks in April. Among the dignitaries present at the event were John Amaratunga, tourism minister, Wildlife and Christian Religious Affairs of Sri Lanka; Kishu Gomes, chairman, Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau; Chamari Rodrigo – consul general, Sri Lanka Consulate; and Chinthaka Weerasinghe, regional manager, SriLankan Airlines – North India.
The package offered includes discounted airfare, accommodation, transport and more, ranging from 30 per cent to 60 per cent. This package is unique to India and can be availed across Sri Lankan Airlines’ network covering 12 cities in India with 123 weekly flights.
After the Easter attacks at churches and luxury hotels in Colombo, Sri Lanka on April 21, there has been a 70 per cent decline in tourism in the month of May stated Kishu Gomes, chairman, Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau.
Arrivals from India this year are expected to be five to ten per cent lower as opposed to last year. Gomes says that the country is expecting around 2 million visitors from around the globe in 2019 as compared to 2.3 million last year. Commenting on this subject, Gomes says,“If you look at deadly attacks and incidents around the world, some countries have taken over a year to recover fully. Here, if we predict even 2 million tourists this year, it would be approximately a 30 per cent decline in tourism, which is actually good.”
The hospitality market in Sri Lanka has also been hit because of the attacks. Gomes says “Luxury hotels have reduced their prices up to 50 per cent, and efforts are being taken to restore and regain the tourism inflow in the country.” He is hopeful that the hospitality industry will normalise by end of 2019. ‘India is the largest source market for Sri Lanka’
Gomes addresses reporters saying that with the population of 1.35 billion, India is the biggest source market for the country. Indians on an average spend US$ 1,000 to 2,000 per travel visit followed by the US spending around US$ 700 followed by the UK with US$ 500. “India has accounted for 18.2 per cent travellers, which is 4,24,887 arrivals in 2018, a 10.5 per cent increase from previous year. In 2017, around 3,83,000 Indians visited the destination. In 2018, this number increased to 4,26,000.” “The primary reason of this is the growing middle-class in the country,” adds Gomes.
Chinthaka Weerasinghe, regional manager, SriLankan Airlines – North India reveals that our main market is Mumbai and Pune followed by Surat in Gujarat. Western part of India is not far behind too.
With new marketing strategies, aggressive promotional campaigns around the world, fresh discounts especially for Indian tourists and other celebratory events slated this year are aimed at reviving the industry. The Sri Lanka Tourism Authority hopes that the whole tourism is bound to comeback following withdrawal of travel security advisories by 12 countries including India.
