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TN rumblings keep Lankan shoppers and sightseers away
View(s):Travel agents complain that bookings for peak season in April down
Large numbers of Sri Lankans travel to South India during the April holidays but tour operators said last week that their bookings were marginal due to protests in Tamil Nadu.
“For the last one month, we have not conducted any tour packages to Chennai,” said Mali Ariyarathne, Manager of Outbound Tours at the World Travel Centre. “And we have hardly any inquiries for April which is usually a peak month.”
Among the packages her company offers are ‘Chennai Shopping’, ‘Kerala Backwaters’, Tirupati and Bangalore. She said that travel to all of these destinations, including Bangalore, which is not part of the State of Tamil Nadu (TN), remained low.
Families go to India in April because their children have holidays, said Romesh Samaranayake, General Manager of Bank of Ceylon Travels. He said those inquiries did not come this year because of the issues in South India. He added that the decision of SriLankan Airlines to reduce its Chennai flights by half has also contributed towards the low figures.
A spokesperson for another travel agent said they, too, had stopped tours to South India. “A lot of passengers are scared and nobody wants to take the risk,” she said, requesting anonymity. “In April people go shopping to Chennai because of the holidays and the cheap tickets. This time there is hardly anything.”
She said, however, that tours to other parts of India—including pilgrimages—were still continuing. “But we have stopped the South part,” she reiterated. Meanwhile, a Sri Lankan theatre company has also chosen to avoid a scheduled event in Chennai after the organisers said they could not guarantee their security. Sri Lankan cricketers will not play any matches in TN. And the Asian Athletic Games which were to be held in Chennai in July 2013 will be shifted elsewhere after TN Chief Minister Jayalalitha Jayaram said her State will not host the event.
The reason Ms. Jayalalitha gave was that the Singapore-based Asian Athletics Association had not replied to her request to block the Sri Lankan contingent from the event.
But concerns over anti-Sri Lanka protests in Tamil Nadu have affected traders who buy saris and sarongs in South India only to a lesser degree. “There is no problem at all,” said M. Nisthar, a long-time sari trader from Pettah. “Even day before yesterday we went to Chennai. We go twice a week. Tamil and Sinhalese traders are going too, sometimes every day.”Mr. Nisthar said he had also observed a group of pilgrims on the flight to Chennai. “Four or five other Sinhalese traders came with us with saris, shalwars and other clothing items,” he noted.
Sri Lanka Customs, which taxes passengers and traders who exceed their duty-free allowance, also said they have not seen a measurable drop in Government revenue.
“We don’t usually charge duty from pilgrims unless they exceed their allowance,” said Mr. G.A. Leslie Gamini, Customs Spokesman. “So just because the number of pilgrims reduces, it doesn’t mean revenue will also reduce.”
“As for traders, we do charge duty and penalties if they exceed their allowance,” he said. “But that is going on. These days it is more because of the New Year season.”
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