Discounted holiday weekend
Sri Lankans are taking time out during the Vesak weekend and taking up on the highly discounted hotel rates on offer in some parts of the country.
In the wake of the Easter Sunday bombings, occupancy in most hotels sank to zero and are found to be turning to Sri Lankan travellers with prices slashed by 60-80 per cent for this weekend.
Most Lankans are found to have booked rooms in locations like the beach front in the South or the cultural triangle but reservations for locations like Kandy, Ella and Nuwara Eliya have not received much of a response.
It is learnt that some hotels in Kandy and Nuwara Eliya would be doing well while most others have actually failed to find guests to stay despite the discounts on offer.
The situation in Kandy is calm with traffic and life normal out on the streets however, travellers are wary of holidaying in these parts of the country.
Hotels in the Cultural Triangle were found to be fully booked and packed for the three days starting Friday (May 17). But from Monday again the hotels would go back to single digit numbers.
Hoteliers are hoping for long weekends to lure Sri Lankans in a bid to keep the hotels afloat and ensure they can retain staff despite the lack of foreign guests.