Sri Lanka in Trouble

As the country plunges further into conflict with a major battle looming in the north, Sri Lanka’s beleaguered tourism industry is in serious trouble.With 2,000 hotel rooms closed, occupancy levels have hit an all-time low in Colombo and outside.
Tourism revenues are down by 20%. 1,500 casual and contractual workers have been laid off. It is expected that this figure will rise in coming weeks; the industry said this week it was facing a ’grave’ crisis and wanted urgent support from the government, wrote, Sundaytimes.lk.
The Tourist Hotels Association (THASL) and the Sri Lanka Association of Inbound Tour Operators (SLAITO) wrote to Tourism Minister Milinda Moragoda urging immediate relief measures. The associations have called for ’some urgent and serious intervention by the government if a major social upheaval and economic crisis is to be prevented’.
The association said that they were under pressure from the membership, staff and other stakeholders to obtain relief measures to keep the industry afloat. They are also requesting a meeting with the President to discuss the crisis. They have pointed out that at least 900,000 individuals and their families are directly and indirectly dependant on tourism.
“This is based on the assumptions, that there are four people in an average Sri Lankan rural family, and that the ratio of direct to indirect employment is 1:3. Since, the largest concentration of the hotels is in the south, it is obvious that the largest number of dependants is also from the southern coast. They emphasize that occupancy levels in all regions, including Colombo and even Negombo, (which showed some resilience earlier) are falling. Presently Colombo hotels are averaging around 40% occupancy, while the circuit hotels are currently averaging 25% to 35%, which is an all-time low for this time of the year.
Statistics released by the Central Cultural Fund showed a 48% drop in revenue from entrance fees for the period of JanuaryÐMay 2007, when compared with the previous year’s figures. Out of a total room stock of 221 rooms only 17 rooms were booked a few days ago.