Nuwara Eliya season tourist traffic hit by 40% slump
The Nuwara Eliya season has been left hurt oiling its bruises from the recent violence that erupted in Kandy, resulting in an expected drop of about 40 per cent in both local and foreign tourist traffic, hoteliers said.
Kandy Hoteliers Association President Samantha Ratnayaka told the Business Times that this is in the wake of the recent violence that occurred in the hill capital. The industry is now looking at carrying out an aggressive campaign in promoting the areas as a destination together with the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau ( SLTPB). The Association also covers Nuwara Eliya and Bandarawela hotels.
Grand Hotel General Manager Rifan Razeem said that they did experience a drop in occupancies this year and said it was mainly the local traffic that was down by around 12 per cent.
Moreover, he pointed out that while they would have been full by this time last year, the occupancy levels had reached about 75 per cent this week.
The Nuwara Eliya season is mainly from April 12 - 22, he said adding that the hotel has planned a number of events for this year’s visitors with a Romanian artiste performing throughout the period; a potato festival; 100 metre long and 500 kg potato cake to be distributed to their neighbours including government offices and orphanages on April 15; ice carving competition with Chefs Gerard Mendis, Dimuthu Kumarasinghe and Martin from Dubai on April 18 along with a serving of noodle soup from the hot pot for 1000 people.
Black Pool in Nuwara Eliya General Manager Mutu Ramesh noted that currently their occupancies were at 65 per cent and they expect a 4 per cent drop in overseas traffic. But due to the Avurudu celebrations some hotels have increased their occupancies and are expecting only about 7 per cent cancellations from the Middle Eastern market that is scheduled to visit after June.
Some hoteliers noted that there would be an overall drop of about 55 per cent compared to the seasonal traffic experienced last year.
Meanwhile, as part of the drive to promote the destination the industry has invited social media bloggers to visit the country in a bid to boost the image of Kandy in the aftermath of the violence.
During the meeting with Tourism Development Minister John Amaratunga there were discussions held to i nv i t e Ambassadors of the various countries that imposed travel advisories. A site visit for diplomats mainly from the European Middle Eastern countries would be held on May 13-14 with cultural events and tours to assure them about the country returning to normalcy.
In addition, the industry together with the SLTPB is expected to conduct a travel mart in September similar to Sancharaka Udawa with the venue being Kandy.