Sri Lankan government expects tourism industry to bounce back in three months
Tourism Minister of Sri Lanka John Amaratunga has reportedly stated that he expected the country’s tourism industry to bounce back in a short period as three months following the negative impact .
“We will bounce back in the next three months,” Amaratunga has told reporters in Colombo on Friday.
Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority Chairman Kishu Gomes has told the media earlier in the week that it had taken an average of 13 months for other countries to recover from similar events.
He has noted that in the first week of May about 1,700 tourists were arriving daily, compared to about 4,200 a day last May or a 60 percent fall from a year earlier.
According to him, Sri Lanka may be able to end the year with a 30 percent downturn if no new attacks take place.
The Minister has however noted that a recovery was already underway and arrivals were improving daily.
“Tourist arrivals are continuing to rebound faster than expected,” he said. “In fact, 2,000 tourists continue to arrive on a daily basis.”
“People who want to come are observing and watching to see how the situation is, so if nothing happens over the next few days or weeks it will bounce back.”
“Some of the airlines confessed that bookings for June and July have not taken place.”
Amaratunga has added that the government is in talks with ambassadors to lift these advisories, but they had informed that more time is needed to evaluate the situation.
He has further noted that global tourism hubs recovered fast after terror attacks.
“New York, Boston, London, Paris, Frankfurt, Madrid, Istanbul, Mumbai, Tokyo and Auckland have all been victims of terror attacks. These places have bounced back in a short period of time, and I don’t see how this is any different here, now that all the culprits have been arrested.”
OSL take:
The government of Sri Lanka has already introduced many measures to help the tourism sector bounce back after the Easter Sunday attacks. Also, tourism authorities have already commenced drawing up short and long term plans to promote Sri Lanka in the global platform. However, as stated by the Tourism Minister, foreigners have already started to arrive in Sri Lanka. Considering all these factors, foreign businesses/investors could explore business/investment opportunities in Sri Lanka’s tourism sector.
| Article Code : | VBS/AT/16052019/Z_1 |