West Asian traffic slows down

The tourism industry is faced with a reduction in West Asian traffic which is likely to drop by about 20-30 per cent this year mainly due to the riots and attacks on Muslims in Kandy early this year, industry officials said.

Compared to last year this market will see a reduction by about 20-30 per cent, Sri Lanka Tourist Hotels Association President Sanath Ukwatte told the Business Times on Tuesday.

He noted that the main reason was the riots in Kandy in February this year and noted that this had created a lot of adverse publicity to the tourism industry resulting in a number of cancellations throughout the year.

He was not sure how long this (uncertainty) would last and believed that expediting the promotional campaigns by the government was the only way forward to resurrecting the industry’s future performance.

The government has already held a number of road shows prior to participating at the Arabian Travel Mart (ATM) this year and it was noted that they had received a good response in this regard.

Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau (SLTPB) Managing Director Sutheash Balasubramaniam said that they had also been prominently featured at the ATM and noted the presence of large media gathering at the country briefing.

He noted that it was evident from what transpired there that Kandy had not been an issue by then.

Meanwhile, Mr. Balasubramaniam also explained that together with the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority they would be hosting the diplomatic community to a visit to Kandy and was also looking at the possibility of conducting a Sancharaka Udawa exhibition in Kandy to give a boost to the destination.