Tourism, early casualty from Sri Lankan blasts

At least five foreigners were among at least 138 killed in morning blasts in three churches and three Colombo 5-star hotels on Sunday, according to government sources while tourism authorities said they were worried of this impact on the industry in coming months.

Apart from a church in Colombo, blasts – by a still unidentified group – were reported from eastern Batticaloa and Negombo on the west coast.
The hotels affected were the Cinnamon Grand, Shangri-La and the Kingsbury.

Sri Lanka Association of Inbound Tour Operators (SLAITO) President Harith Perera said that this was the first time that hotels have been directly attacked that had not occurred even during the 30-year-old conflict. He noted that this was likely to have an adverse impact on the summer holiday season coming up.

Asked whether security has been beefed up at the other city hotels, he noted that authorities were "still waking up for what has happened."
"This will create a lot of instability and send the wrong message," he explained.

Hoteliers Association President Sanath Ukwatte observed that this attack seemed to unfortunately indicating that it is targeting Easter celebrations and Easter Mass so “none of us are sure of what is happening”. He noted that all hotels have taken necessary precautions following the attacks.

President Maithripala Sirisena called for calm in the wake of the blasts while an emergency Cabinet meeting was underway at noon. (Sunimalee)