By Madhusha Thavapalakumar
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THASL President Sanath Ukwatte[/caption]
With most hotels being empty and guestless, a number of hotels have launched a free, “anytime cancellation” policy in a bid to attract more bookings over the rest of the year and in early 2021.
The new cancellation policy provides more leeway for international tourists to cancel their bookings even on the day of their arrival and get refunded without being subjected to any penalties, according to The Hotels Association of Sri Lanka (THASL).
THASL President Sanath Ukwatte, who is also the Managing Director of Mount Lavinia Hotel (Pvt.) Ltd., told The Sunday Morning Business that all members of THASL are on board with this new policy – about 218 hotels including popular star-class hotels.
“We have received several bookings for January 2021 onwards, which would amount to about 20-25% occupancy. People around the world want to travel and have a normal life. Therefore, such a policy would be flexible for travellers as they cannot foresee what the future holds,” Ukwatte added.
On a further note, he added that this cancellation policy has also received support from state-owned SriLankan Airlines as the airline too has to be flexible when hotel bookings are cancelled.
Ukwatte noted that a majority of global cities are virus-free and people will begin to travel gradually with extra precautions, and airlines such as Emirates have opted for rapid testing methods to check their passengers’ health.
During a recent webinar, he stated that people around the world are well aware of how Sri Lanka is containing the pandemic and the effectiveness of measures being taken by authorities and the health sector of the country, which alone would create confidence in potential travellers.
In addition to this, the Sri Lankan Government, together with the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA), is preparing a number of plans to revive and develop the country’s industry.
THASL is a representative body of hotels in the country and hotels like Amari Galle, Anilana Hotels, Citrus Hotels, Cinnamon Hotels and Resorts, Hilton Colombo, Galadari, and Heritance Hotels, amongst others, are members of THASL, in addition to considerable amount of medium-range hotels.
The drastic drop in hotel occupancy rates is not unique to Sri Lanka as most of the tourism-dependent South Asian countries too are witnessing zero occupancy due to lockdowns imposed in many countries.
Sri Lanka imposed an islandwide curfew on 20 March which is still partially effective in all districts except Colombo, Gampaha, and Puttalam, which are completely under curfew. On 18 March, the Sri Lankan Government closed down the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) for passenger arrivals, which is likely to remain closed for some more time.
THASL President Sanath Ukwatte[/caption]
With most hotels being empty and guestless, a number of hotels have launched a free, “anytime cancellation” policy in a bid to attract more bookings over the rest of the year and in early 2021.
The new cancellation policy provides more leeway for international tourists to cancel their bookings even on the day of their arrival and get refunded without being subjected to any penalties, according to The Hotels Association of Sri Lanka (THASL).
THASL President Sanath Ukwatte, who is also the Managing Director of Mount Lavinia Hotel (Pvt.) Ltd., told The Sunday Morning Business that all members of THASL are on board with this new policy – about 218 hotels including popular star-class hotels.
“We have received several bookings for January 2021 onwards, which would amount to about 20-25% occupancy. People around the world want to travel and have a normal life. Therefore, such a policy would be flexible for travellers as they cannot foresee what the future holds,” Ukwatte added.
On a further note, he added that this cancellation policy has also received support from state-owned SriLankan Airlines as the airline too has to be flexible when hotel bookings are cancelled.
Ukwatte noted that a majority of global cities are virus-free and people will begin to travel gradually with extra precautions, and airlines such as Emirates have opted for rapid testing methods to check their passengers’ health.
During a recent webinar, he stated that people around the world are well aware of how Sri Lanka is containing the pandemic and the effectiveness of measures being taken by authorities and the health sector of the country, which alone would create confidence in potential travellers.
In addition to this, the Sri Lankan Government, together with the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA), is preparing a number of plans to revive and develop the country’s industry.
THASL is a representative body of hotels in the country and hotels like Amari Galle, Anilana Hotels, Citrus Hotels, Cinnamon Hotels and Resorts, Hilton Colombo, Galadari, and Heritance Hotels, amongst others, are members of THASL, in addition to considerable amount of medium-range hotels.
The drastic drop in hotel occupancy rates is not unique to Sri Lanka as most of the tourism-dependent South Asian countries too are witnessing zero occupancy due to lockdowns imposed in many countries.
Sri Lanka imposed an islandwide curfew on 20 March which is still partially effective in all districts except Colombo, Gampaha, and Puttalam, which are completely under curfew. On 18 March, the Sri Lankan Government closed down the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) for passenger arrivals, which is likely to remain closed for some more time.
Even before the closure of the airport, Sri Lankan hotels were witnessing a significant number of cancellations due to travel restrictions placed on Chinese tourists, who are one of the top tourism generators of Sri Lanka.
However, following the curfew and BIA closure, occupancy rates hit almost zero, according to the industry. Hotels faced a similar issue this time last year, following the Easter Sunday attacks.