Tourism boom busted by political crisis
Former Tourism Development and Christian Religious Affairs Minister John Amaratunga in a statement said the plans to make Sri Lanka a tourism hub in the region and the country’s highest foreign exchange earner had suffered a major setback due to the current political impasses.
“As a former Minister of Tourism Development, I am disappointed and disheartened that plans and strategies envisaged by my ministry for the development of tourism to reach the vision of making Sri Lanka the tourism hub of the region and the highest foreign exchange earner had undeservedly suffered a major setback due to the current political impasses,” Amaratunga said in his statement. He emphasised that Sri Lanka tourism gained momentum and was on track to become the top foreign exchange earner despite the several challenges due to various activities launched by the authorities since 2015.
“Despite politically-coloured setbacks in the form of regular strikes and street protests to upset civilian life and natural disasters experienced, tourism resiliently recorded a steady rise of tourist arrivals reaching set arrival targets, an outcome of major promotions campaigns worldwide by Sri Lanka Tourism,” he noted.
However, he pointed out that several plans initiated by the ministry are on hold including the annual ‘Christmas Fest’.
“The ‘Christmas Fest’ annually organized by Sri Lanka Tourism to light up the Colombo City with a festive atmosphere centered around the Colombo Arcade as a tourism attraction will be sadly missed due to the present crisis,” he said.
Elaborating on the adverse impacts of the political impasse, which triggered several Western nations to issue travel advisories, Amaratunga stated that a substantial number of tourist bookings have been cancelled during the peak tourist season (from November 2018 to March 2019).
Further, he stated that the informal sector, which accounts for almost half of Sri Lanka’s tourism industry, is facing a severe setback due to massive cancellations of on-line bookings.
Amaratunga stressed that maintenance of law and order is vital for Sri Lanka’s tourism industry growth, and called for a swift end to the prevailing political impasse.
“I sincerely hope that the present political impasse will come to an end sooner than later, so that tourism will take ‘the box seat’ once again in our economy,” Amaratunga said.