The tourism sector in Sri Lanka is hoping for recovery after the economic crisis in the country and the subsequent unrest brought the sector to a standstill.
The woes of the tourism industry in Sri Lanka started much before the economic crisis. After recording a bumper year in 2018 with about 2.3 million international tourist arrivals, the unfortunate Easter Sunday terror attack in the following year resulted in tourism numbers plunging steadily. The emergence and spread of Covid-19 in later years dampened all the hopes for a recovery as the global tourism industry witnessed its worst crisis ever.
However, Sri Lanka’s tourism and hospitality are now looking to revive the sector with a focus on the Indian outbound market, its biggest source market for international arrivals. Sri Lanka has been making efforts to win back the confidence of the Indian travel trade and consumers. The tourism board embarked on a three-city roadshow series beginning with New Delhi (September 26) followed by Mumbai (September 28) and Hyderabad (September 30). A delegation of over 50 suppliers including DMCs and hotels participated in the roadshow series with the delegation being led by Harin Fernando, Minister of Tourism accompanied by Chalaka Gajabahu, Chairman, Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau and Thisum Jayasuriya, Chairman, Sri Lanka Conventions Bureau.
“We want to convey the message that Sri Lanka is recovering strongly and at the moment there is no shortage of fuel or electricity in the country. We are looking at different ways to promote Sri Lanka in key source markets like India and the UK. We are planning a number of major events to draw the attention of international tourists in the coming months,” said Fernando. The Tourism Minister expressed confidence that the international tourist arrivals in the island nation will recover strongly beginning next year.
Sri Lanka Tourism is also planning to soon roll out special travel packages and joint promotions with partners including Indigo Airlines, Air India and makemytrip.com to spur the demand from the Indian market.
The tourism board is keen to promote new segments like golf tourism in the Indian market. “Sri Lanka is home to one of the oldest golf courses in the world and we would like to attract Indian golfers to our country,” said Fernando. The Minister added that Sri Lanka is also getting a renewed interest from the Indian destination wedding segment.
Sri Lanka Tourism is also planning to launch a marketing campaign in the coming days to showcase to the world that the island nation is ready to welcome tourists again in a secure environment.
“There is a growing demand from the Indian outbound market to visit Sri Lanka. However, the airfares need to be competitive in order to ensure that the interest converts into numbers,” said Sameer Whig, Director, Samaara Holidays.
With 80,132 tourist arrivals for the period January to August 22, India is the top source market for Sri Lanka followed by the UK with 65,555 tourist arrivals for the same period.