Tourism industry struggles in crisis-hit Sri Lanka

A tourist coach was recently surrounded by angry people waiting for kerosene; finding fuel has become an undercover operation; items on menus at restaurants are being reduced; power cuts force temporary shutdowns of eating places; and locals are literally begging to buy their wares. This highlights a struggling industry trying to ensure tourists remain safe and enjoy their holiday in Sri Lanka.

At Orugodawatte last week there was a commotion concerning tourists travelling in a tourist coach headed for a city tour of Colombo. Shocking pictures of the incident was sent out through messages to friends and family abroad where Sri Lankans surrounded their coach protesting against the lack of kerosene as they blocked the road for about one-and-ahalf hours, Sunway Holidays Founder/ Managing Director Ramesh Dassanayaka told the Business Times.

The coach run by Sunway Holidays was plying these tourists from Hungary who had arrived at the airport and was on their way to Colombo after a 14- hour flight with about 25 people in the vehicle.

He noted that they were compelled to seek assistance from the SSP City Traffic and Tourism Minister Prasanna Ranatunga to move the people out.

“This will go viral in their countries and will block the avenues to get the dollars into the country,” Mr. Dassanayaka explained.

He also noted that queues forming around the country wherever they travel is also giving a “very negative impact” and in fact “they ( tourists) might postpone their trips when they think that

the locals are suffering since they feel guilty to holiday in a country like this”.

Sri Lanka’s tourism industry is currently facing stiff competition from other South East Asian nations that are already picking up and opening up since the pandemic restrictions to encourage more travelers to visit their countries.

With the industry headed for the West Asian seasonal traffic post Ramazan it is feared that those travellers might not come here if this situation continues.

Fuelling up

At present the Finance Minister had given the green light for the Sri Lanka Transport Board ( SLTB) to provide fuel for tourist coaches at the bus depots. “But only diesel is available there and cars and vans need petrol and sometimes these depots also run out of fuel,” Mr. Dassanayaka said.

Fuel is being transported from Colombo to other parts of the country since the tourist coaches and other vehicles cannot be sent to obtain fuel once they are out on tour as drivers need to rest before running the vehicles the next day. “We send people to stay in queues here in Colombo and then dispatch it by night since there is no guarantee that there will be fuel in outstation depots or fuel stations,” he explained. “We are on pins since we have a responsibility towards the travel agents.”

On Wednesday one of their large coaches were issued only with 10 litres of diesel at the Matale CTB Depot, which is enough for about 30 km, he said.

Meanwhile, Association of Small and Medium Enterprises in Tourism ( ASMET) former President Rohan Abeywickrama also pointed out, hotels are also facing a problem without adequate fuel for their generators.

As a result they are compelled to purchase the petrol in barrels but since some fuel stations do not sell in cans and in a bid to overcome the electricity shortages, they are compelled to purchase from mafia groups operating outside the Hikkaduwa region paying Rs.10 extra for the fuel.

No gas and understaffed

In the meantime, restaurants in Colombo are fast running out of gas and some have had to even temporarily close operations for a day or two and run on limited menus, Colombo City Restaurant Collective President Harpo Gooneratne told the Business Times.

Staff has been unable to come to work and some are even leaving the shores opting for greener pastures in the Maldives, Qatar and Dubai as a result of which the industry is also facing a human resources crisis at present, he noted. “Some people are asking whether they can help with staff.”

With restrictions placed on imported foods, when using locally produced supplies the quality differs and some items cannot be made available and on the other hand prices have increased considerably with some going up by 50 per cent, he said.

While printing menus is costly they will very soon opt for digital menus, as prices on menu items increase by 20- 25 per cent, Mr. Gooneratne explained.

But the industry was mostly irked by the fact that the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority ( SLTDA) the key state tourism body has no interest in addressing these critical issues as they struggle to survive. The industry repeatedly has been lambasting the SLTDA Chairperson Kimarl i Fernando that her interests were mostly targeted towards changing of the Tourism Act which is of no relevance to overcoming the present problems.

In fact they told the Business Times that the industry needed a 24-hour operation to help address the current issues as was carried out in the past. With no one to turn to and no one to take responsibility the industry is left to lurch in the dark at a time when the industry is facing its darkest hour.