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Tourism industry: Uptick in tourists visiting hotspots

05 Mar 2022

  • Hotels in south see higher tourist occupancy: SLAITO
  • Monthly arrivals numbers may exceed 100,000 
By Uwin Lugoda Foreign visitors are returning to tourism hotspots across the country, surpassing predicted numbers, giving rise to optimism in the industry on the recovery of tourism in Sri Lanka. Speaking to The Sunday Morning, several stakeholders claimed that the recent uptick in tourism, especially in tourism hotspots like Ella and the south, was a sign of a positive future for the industry.  These claims were backed by Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA) data, which showcased that a total of 82,327 tourists entered the country in January; which exceeded their initial prediction of 80,000 tourists arrivals last month. According to inbound tour operators, these tourists are making their way from the beaches of Sri Lanka to other parts of the country and visiting several tourism hotspots. Sri Lanka Association of Inbound Tour Operators (SLAITO) Chairman Thilak Weerasinghe stated most of these arrivals were owed to an increase in arrivals from the Russian and Central Asian region, which were not as strong pre-pandemic. “We have seen tourists arriving from these countries due to the current increase in connectivity between the nations. We got some charters to the Mattala Airport and regular flights to Bandaranaike International Airport. They mainly come for our beaches and they base themselves down south; from there they do excursions inland and some of them go on two- to three-day tours. Due to this we now see hotels being filled up from the south of Sri Lanka all the way up to Passikudah,” said Weerasinghe. He stated that this pattern would continue until the end of the winter season in April. He explained that according to booking patterns drawn from SLAITO data, there were a number of bookings made for a few months after the season as well. “We have bookings made from the European and UK markets, stretching all the way to May and a few advanced bookings for August and September, by individual travellers.” Weerasinghe said travel agents had sold Sri Lanka as an easy place to travel, given the current Covid guidelines which are acceptable by the region. He stated that this had helped increase arrival numbers and in turn allowed the local tourism hotspot to bloom. Moreover, he also stated that they expect a higher arrival of Indian tourists come summer, due to the local industry inviting 300 to 400 Indian tour operators to hold their Annual General Meetings (AGMs) in Sri Lanka. He explained that by convincing them to conduct their AGMs in the country, they would come up with a strong marketing campaign for Sri Lanka for the Indian market. Weerasinghe stated that as a result, he was optimistic that February arrivals would not only pass 80,000 but also reach 100,000 or more. He explained that currently Sri Lanka was averaging 2,500 arrivals a day, with most days seeing arrival numbers between 2,000 to 3,500. Hoteliers’ experience According to southern hotelier Wansa Hettiarachchi, the southern coast is currently filled with international tourists. He explained that the south had completely transformed from what it was earlier, with its tourism hotspot status spreading all the way from Galle to Hambantota. “Twenty years ago, we only saw beaches in areas like Beruwella, Bentota, and Hikkaduwa, receiving tourists and being developed. Today, we see tourism from areas like Tangalle, Hambantota, Ahangama, and Koggala, thanks to their beautiful beaches and water sports like surfing,” said Hettiarachchi. He stated that currently there were tourists from Russia and Ukraine frequenting the south coast. He explained that this would be soon followed by other tourism markets, leading to a boom in southern tourism in the coming years. Hettiarachchi stated that the major reasoning for this was the promotion of surfing in the region, which was earlier segmented to a niche side of tourism. Now, he opined that with the global rise of surfing among professionals such as doctors and lawyers, surfing had become a general part of tourism. “Looking at the current boom in southern tourism, we can expect a bigger boom in the years to come, expanding the southern tourism hotspot from Galle to Hambantota. Right now we have mostly Russian and Ukrainian tourists, but we expect other markets like the UK, German and French markets to follow once Covid slows down, which will definitely have us facing a shortage of rooms. The Government should help us streamline the tourism in the area, while not forgetting that this is a private sector-driven market.” This same surge in tourism was also confirmed by hoteliers in Ella, who stated that within the last few months the number of tourists entering the tourism hotspot had increased drastically. Speaking to The Sunday Morning, Tourism and Trade Association of Ella Secretary Harshana Abewickrama stated that the number of tourists entering the tourism town continued to increase thanks to tourists from Russia and Ukraine. “We have seen a major increase in both local and international tourists entering Ella. The international tourists are mostly Russian and Ukrainian tourists, who come inland after having spent time on the beaches of Sri Lanka,” said Abewickrama. However, despite this surge in tourists, Abewickrama stated that the current market did not bring the same income the pre-pandemic one did. He claimed that tourists coming to Ella were more frugal in their spending, with most opting to cut out unnecessary expenses while travelling and only spending on lodging, food, and transport.  

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