Christmas brings hope for tourism
View(s):The dejected tourism industry is currently studying the new draft Tourism Act which has not included any of their previous proposals and is hoping the health regulations will not change since they are still cashing in on the tourism industry’s revival this Christmas.
Sri Lanka Association of Inbound Tour Operators (SLAITO) past President and Andrews Travels CEO Mahen Kariyawasam told the Business Times that they hope to engage the industry on submitting their proposals to authorities for the new Tourism Act by January 15.
The industry had submitted proposals before the draft Act was prepared, and were disappointed when they received the document on December 3 by Tourism Minister Prasanna Ranatunga.
As more countries impose restrictions for travel following the outbreak of the Omicron variant of COVID-19 he said this is being “exaggerated” as there are health reports coming out that now state it is not as fatal as feared. In this respect, the industry hopes health authorities in Sri Lanka will not change any regulations for tourists arriving in the country as this is their only chance of a revival as visitor numbers have been on the rise over the past few months.
Airlines from a number of countries resumed operations. “We have Aeroflot, Astana, Air France, Swiss Airlines coming in and Russian charters will be arriving towards the end of December in addition to Polish Airlines,” Mr. Kariyawasam said.
The industry remains confident that about 400,000 tourists will head to the shores of Sri Lanka during this winter season.
Meanwhile, the government’s insistence on the payment of 2.5 per cent tax on turnover has put a dampener on an industry that was just trying to make ends meet. “We know the government is in need of money but we want the government to defer that from the tourism industry – in our business we have very thin markups so we will not be able to sustain,” Mr. Kariyawasam explained.
In fact the industry has been surviving on moratoriums and loans from the government to pay employee wages as well.
By end of June 2022 those moratoriums are lapsing “so we are asking the government whether they can give us a credit line so that we will have some breathing space to pay,” he said.
Tourists from India, Russia, Eastern Europe and the CIS countries have recorded an increase but Sri Lanka’s traditional markets like France, Germany and the UK have not performed well.
Today travellers tend to rely on tour operators as opposed to travelling alone due to safety and security concerns as a result of the pandemic outbreak and other political issues.
People want safety, security and especially when it comes to long haul travel like a traveller from Europe or Australia if there is a sudden pandemic outbreak or any other issue they need someone to take care of them, a leading tour operator pointed out.
Expectations are high for arrivals in December with the industry eyeing about 60- 70,000 travellers to holiday in Sri Lanka this month.
In the meantime, SLAITO has held a meeting with the Tourism Ministry Secretary S. Hettiarachchi and had proposed an increase in the tourist guide fee from the present Rs.2500 to Rs.4000 to be paid from January 1.
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