Sri Lanka’s largest conglomerate says forward bookings in tourism sector fully recovered
Sri Lanka’s largest conglomerate, John Keells Holdings (JKH), has reportedly said its forward bookings in the tourism sector have fully recovered on a year on year basis.
The announcement has been made by JKH Deputy Chairman Gihan Gooray.
These comments were made to news anchor Sri Jegarajah during a broadcast on CNBC Singapore.
The comments were reportedly a pleasant surprise to industry analysts who had expected a tourism industry recovery to take much longer.
Sri Lanka’s tourism industry faced a severe blow after the Easter Sunday terror attacks in April that struck several churches and five star hotels including JKH’s leading luxury hotel in Colombo, Cinnamon Grand.
According to reports, for the June quarter, revenue was down almost 50% in JKH’s listed city hotel subsidiary Asian Hotels and Properties (AHPL). As of the end of August, year over year tourist arrivals to Sri Lanka were down approximately 20%.
JKH has made a nation leading US$1 billion investment into the tourism sector in Sri Lanka with its Cinnamon Life development.
Accordingly, the project includes an 800 room city hotel, residential and office towers, retail, and convention space. Parts of the Cinnamon Life development are scheduled to start coming online in 2020.
The JKH Deputy Chairman has been quoted as saying that the fundamentals of the Sri Lankan economy are in decent shape, and consumer sentiment has been relatively strong post the terror attacks.
OSL take:
The recovery of forward bookings recorded by one of Sri Lanka’s largest conglomerates is indicative of the impressive return to normalcy of the country’s tourism industry following the setback suffered in the aftermath of the Easter Sunday attacks in April. Tourist arrivals to the country have been increasing since May and the island continues to maintain the top slot as the destination of the year in several key global travel publications. Also, many foreign businesses/investors have entered the country to invest in Sri Lanka’s tourism industry. Therefore, the country’s tourism industry is a hotspot for business/investment opportunities.
| Article Code : | VBS/AT/23092019/Z_4 |