Financial Times

Tourist Board blamed for being unable to tackle adverse publicity overseas
Southern hotels report 20-30 percent drop in arrivals
From Quintus Perera in Bentota, Hikkaduwa, Galle
The southern region from Colombo somewhere up to the Yala National Park, considered the backbone of the tourism industry in Sri Lanka, was devastated by the tsunami which swept across the south.

Yet one year after this disaster, the industry is struggling and accusing the government of failing to adequately counter adverse publicity overseas.
In an on-the-spot survey carried out by The Sunday Times FT on how the southern coast has recovered one year after the deadly tidal waves, it was found that tourism hasn’t recovered through the passage of time. In most cases we found that hotel occupancy rates have dropped by almost to 20 percent compared to December 2004 (pre-tsunami) levels.

This is despite almost all the affected hotels have undergone costly rehabilitation and improving their facilities after spending several millions of rupees.

Several top hoteliers told this newspaper that the major reason for this decline has been attributed to the failure of the authorities to counter the adverse publicity globally from the tsunami disaster and its aftermath.

Senaka de Silva, Managing Director, Lady Hill Hotel Galle said a large number of journalists and television crews from world reputed news agencies filled southern hotels covering the disaster for as long as three months filling stories. “But our authorities simply failed to use these media people in promoting other tourist attractions in other parts of the country. They have not done anything to counter the adverse reporting,” he said.

He said the authorities failed to effectively tell the world how fast the industry has recovered and how all the hotels have restored all their facilities for the season. “In fact we were expecting full capacity by this time,” he added.
S.E. Goonawardene, Managing Director, Corel Sands Hotel, Hikkaduwa and President, Hikkaduwa Hoteliers Association (HHA), said that one of the biggest factors for tourism failing this season is the arrogant attitude of Sri Lanka Tourism (SLT) in preventing them (Hikkaduwa hoteliers) attending the London World Travel Mart last month. The SLT cited a shortage of stall space as a reason for turning down their application to participate.

The Presidents of the Ruhuna and Hikkaduwa Hoteliers Association had insisted that they should attend this important trade fair which draws travel agents from the world, helping local hoteliers to convince the world (and do a better job of it than the SLT) that Sri Lanka was more than ready for foreign guests.
Goonewardene, explaining what happened, said the initial payments for the registration and for airfares were to be met by the Southern Chamber of Commerce and the Ruhuna Tourist Board. Even though Aitken Spence Hotels, being represented at the WTM, was prepared to offer part of their space to set up a stall for the Ruhuna and Hikkaduwa hoteliers, the SLT rejected the application.

He said that 15 hotels are HHA members and the room capacity would be around 500. He said that the drop compared to last year would be around 50 percent in the Hikkaduwa area. He said that almost all the hotels were in full gear by about three months after the tsunami.

Gemunu Sri Lal, General Manager, Tropical Villas, Aluthgama and the Vice President, Bentota Beruwala Hoteliers Association, reiterated what Senaka de Silva said about the adverse effects of the repeated publicity worldwide about the disaster, noting that recent repeated warnings on worsening weather conditions including cyclonic storms that would have occured in December may have raised fresh fears in the minds of would-be travellers.

He said the overall drop in arrivals in the Bentota-Hikkaduwa sector would be around 30 percent. Several hotels in this area are still out of commission and around 400 rooms are still not available for use but these hotels are speedily being rehabilitated in the hope of catching up during the season. Ms Priyanka Wijenayake, Assistant General Manager, Lighthouse, Galle said that in addition to repeated publicity post-tsunami and warnings of the inclement whether these days, slow clearance of the debris would also have affected the minds of the travellers.

Stretches of road across the south still have debris lying on the roads while tsunami victims huddled inside makeshift houses or inside tents surrounded by patches of water is not a welcome sight for foreign travellers.

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