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Hotels limited to local tourists close to collapse
Low local tourist numbers have put tourist hotels that opted to serve only local tourists in a dire state, with incomes barely sufficient to cover even maintenance costs, hoteliers said.
These hotels, which did not opt to move into the category of Safe and Secure Certified Level 1 Hotels to welcome foreign tourists, can only entertain local guests, according to Sri Lanka Tourist Development Authority guidelines.
At a southern hotel, Ukrainian tourists in their bikinis and swimsuits, watching an event held to mark Sri Lanka's Independence Day. Also taking part was Udayanga Weeratunga, in national dress, who brought the Ukrainian tourists. Pix by Thusitha Kumara
The problem is, Sri Lankans have become nervous to travel around the country due to the pandemic, Sri Lanka Hotel Association President Sanath Ukwatte said.
“Survival of the industry solely on domestic tourism would be difficult,” Mr. Ukwatte said, pointing out that in any case hotels generally relied on foreign tourists for 80 per cent of their business.
As a survival strategy, he said, some hotels are in the repatriation business, providing their services as quarantine centres. Others have become intermediatory care centres for COVID-19 positive cases whose condition does not require admittance to hospital.
Although hotels say they are hoping for more local guests in coming months, Mr. Ukwatte is pessimistic. He said that due to tightened purse-strings and health advice against travelling and gatherings he could not see a surge of domestic tourism even during the approaching April New Year season.
“This is a pandemic spreading from person to person and we all are responsible for preventing its spread,” he commented, reflecting on current public attitudes.
He said most of the smaller hotels and guest houses are closed due to a dearth of business and higher operational costs in tourist destinations. Only a handful of tourist hotels were operating, with minimum staff.
Amaya Lake, a four-star resort in Dambulla, will decide by the end of March whether to open up to foreign tourists as a Safe and Secure Certified Level 1 Hotel by May 1 or to continue to serve local guests, assistant front office manager Merril John said.
“We would look at how the other Safe and Secure Certified Level 1 Hotels are functioning,” he said. If it was not feasible to attract foreign tourists, the hotel would continue to have local guests.
The hotel has special offers currently on offer to local guests and Mr. John is confident numbers would grow in March and April during the Sinhala and Tamil New Year season.
Hotel Topaz and Tourmaline Kandy general manager Anura Basnayake said although the Tourmaline has lower occupancy rates than normal it hopes for better times. “We ‘ll have special promotions to attract more locals starting from mid-March,” he said.
The Queen’s Hotel Kandy, open to local visitors, also has special rates and benefits from its proximity to the Temple of the Tooth to attract locals who visit the temple.
At the Hotel Sudu Araliya, Polonnaruwa, front office manager Dilan Bandara said that of 104 rooms, 20-30 are usually sold at weekends, and he also hopes for more business when the New Year comes.
Mr. Bandara said that by cutting staff to a minimum the hotel has lowered costs. “There are only three more hotels open in Polonnaruwa,” he revealed. “Almost all the smaller hotels and guest houses are closed.”
Tissamaharamaya, located close to Yala National Park and Kataragama sacred city, is a popular destination for both local and foreign tourists. Now, however, most of the town’s star class hotels are used as repatriate quarantine facilities and almost all small hotels and guest houses are closed, according to an official of a popular resort, Hotel Charya, which is also being used as a repatriate quarantine facility.
The small town of Ella, formerly bustling with foreign tourists, is now in deep slumber with hardly any hotels or guesthouses open, said Sunil, a manager of one small hotel.
“There is one hotel open for local tourists in Ella,” he said. “Most of the poor people who were dependent on tourism are desperate as their livelihood has gone.”
| Brace yourself: Long-haul travel may not get going until 2023 By Angus Whitley, Jason Gale, Tara Patel, and Christopher Jasper (Bloomberg) – As coronavirus vaccines started rolling out late last year, there was a palpable sense of excitement. People began browsing travel websites and airlines grew optimistic about flying again. Ryanair Holdings Plc even launched a “Jab & Go” campaign alongside images of 20-somethings on holiday, drinks in hand. It’s not working out that way. For a start, it isn’t clear the vaccines actually stop travellers spreading the disease, even if they’re less likely to catch it themselves. Neither are the shots proven against the more-infectious mutant strains that have startled governments from Australia to the U.K. into closing, rather than opening, borders. An ambitious push by carriers for digital health passports to replace the mandatory quarantines killing travel demand is also fraught with challenges and has yet to win over the World Health Organisation. This bleak reality has pushed back expectations of any meaningful recovery in global travel to 2022. That may be too late to save the many airlines with only a few months of cash remaining. And the delay threatens to kill the careers of hundreds of thousands of pilots, flight crew and airport workers who’ve already been out of work for close to a year. Rather than a return to worldwide connectivity — one of the economic miracles of the jet era — prolonged international isolation appears unavoidable. “It’s very important for people to understand that at the moment, all we know about the vaccines is that they will very effectively reduce your risk of severe disease,” said Margaret Harris, a WHO spokesperson in Geneva. “We haven’t seen any evidence yet indicating whether or not they stop transmission.” To be sure, it’s possible a travel rebound will happen on its own — without the need for vaccine passports. Should jabs start to drive down infection and death rates, governments might gain enough confidence to roll back quarantines and other border curbs, and rely more on passengers’ pre-flight Covid-19 tests. The United Arab Emirates, for example, has largely done away with entry restrictions, other than the need for a negative test. While U.K. regulators banned Ryanair’s “Jab & Go” ad as misleading, the discount airline’s chief Michael O’Leary still expects almost the entire population of Europe to be inoculated by the end of September. “That’s the point where we are released from these restrictions,” he said. “Short-haul travel will recover strongly and quickly.” For now though, governments broadly remain skittish about welcoming international visitors and rules change at the slightest hint of trouble.
Hotels geared for foreign arrivals edgy about the future Operators of Safe and Secure Certified Level 1 Hotels and travel companies are waiting with bated breath to see whether the trickle of foreign tourists into the country will provide them with a steady income. Despite receiving a steady flow of inquiries, the head of Nkar Travels and Tours, Damien Fernando predicted foreign arrivals would drop by four-fifths this year compared to financial year 2018/2019. “But we are expecting some more tourists for winter 2021-22,” he added. Hotel Insight Ahangama Resident Manger Niroshan Jayakody said the resort had 20 bookings for February, more than half its occupancy rate. He hopes the occupancy rate would hold up at least until April. “After April, it might decrease till August,” he said. He pointed out that until this month, the hotel’s occupancy rate was just 20 percent. “That’s also only during the weekend, which was hardly enough even to pay utility bills,” Mr. Jayakody said. Currently, except for one booking, all new bookings have been for 14-day stays, “which is good”, he commented. Anantara Hotels’ Cluster Marketing Communications Manager Dinusha Chandrathilake said the Anantara Kalutara, a Safe and Secure Level 1 5-star resort, was set to welcome its first foreign tourists yesterday. on Saturday. “We are pleased to welcome our first guests after couple of months,” she declared. “At the Anantara Peace Haven in Tangalle also we have a few bookings, with more bookings in March,” she added. She said that the Anantara Tangalle would function as a Safe and Secure Level 1 Hotel starting from February 22 and Avani Kalutara from March 31. Ms. Chandraratne said it was difficult to predict whether foreign tourists would arrive in increasing numbers because many factors, such as availability of flights and the situation in other countries, affected their number. “Germany is in full lockdown whereas Russia and Ukraine are open,” she explained. Foreign travel also depends on the vaccination roll-out in different countries and the stance of individual governments, she added. Sources said 200 more tourists arrived in the country last week, bringing to 700 the total arriving since the opening of the airport on January 21. Small beginnings are giving hope to travel company, Different Discovery. Its co-founder, Rasith Gunaratne, has a first group confirmed for later in the year. “Twelve Danish tourists have already confirmed their bookings to arrive in the country in October,” he said. | |