THEECONOMYCLASSOF SRILANKANAIRLINES
UL 122fromChennaito Colomboon May25 wasalmost
full.ThiswasnotsurprisingbecauseAprilandMay,
despite thesearing heat of Sri Lanka,arethemonths
whenholiday travelpeaksfromIndia.
An hourlater,aftertouchdownat the Bandaranaike
International Airport, as thiscorrespondent checkedout
of immigration in a breeze, it becameclearthatalmost all
the passengers whowereon the Sri Lankan Airlinesflight
weretakingconnectingflightsto destinations outof Sri
Lanka. Sri LankanAirlinesofferscompetitive fareson
manyroutesandthe cash-consciousIndiantravellerhas
alwayspreferredto use Colomboas a transitstopbefore
flyingto destinations in EuropeandAsia.
Therewashardlyanyone,barringSri Lankannation-
als,whosedestinationwasColomboor thecharming
touristspotsaroundthe Emerald Isle.It wasnotalways
likethis.Tourismin Sri Lankawasbooming(thein-
dustryhadan all-time-high revenueof $4 billionin 2018
andit wasexpectedto cross$4.5billionthisyear)until
theblastsshookthecountryon April21.LonelyPlanet
hasnamedSri Lankaas a must-visitdestination for the
yearin 2019,andmassivetourism-related infrastructure
hascomeup or wascomingup at a freneticpace.
SriLanka hada reputation as a value-for-money
touristdestinationandcrimewasgenerallylow.Above
all, it didnothavethekindof dangers that is normally
associated withthe ThirdWorld.
All thatchangedin justa fewminutes on April 21
aftera seriesof blastsacrossSri Lankakilledover 250
people. Soonafterthe carnagecamethe masscancella-
tionof roomreservationsas tourgroupsputtheirSri
Lankaitinerarieson holdin deference to thetravelad-
visories putoutby theircountries.India,whichrarely
issuesa traveladvisoryagainstvisitingSri Lanka,also
issuedone(whichwaswithdrawntowardstheendof
May).“Weadvisedourclients[hotels]notto charge a
cancellationfee because thiswasnota problemcreated
by thosetravelling,”saidSaman,a travelagent,whoruns
his owntourbusiness, HeritageTravels.Samanlosttwo
big groupsfromPuducherryin southIndia, amongoth-
ers.“I am suretheywillcomebackwhentheysee thatthe
blastswerean aberration here,”he added.
Negambo,a townbarely a 15-minutedrivefromthe
airport,wasa favouritestopoverfor manytransitpassen-
gersbecausethetouristtownofferseverythingthata
touristdesiresin a shorttransit—beautifulbeaches, bon-
fire parties,danceandmusic,a choiceof cuisineand
inexpensivealcohol,andprofessionalayurvedicmassages
thatSri Lankatakesgreatpridein showcasing.Because
Negambo wascloseto theairport,it neverhadan off-
seasonandthe roomrateswerehighcomparedwiththe
off-season ratesin other partsof Sri Lanka.
Buttoday,morethana monthafterthe blasts, Neg-
ambolookslikea ghosttown.TheiconicHotelRoadin
thetownis wherebothsides of theroadare linedwith
hotels andupcoming massiveprojectsbelonging to local
hoteliersandmajorinternational chains.Thegovern-
ment hadrelaxedliquorpermitrules,andestablish-
ments alongtheroadarenowallowed to owna liquor
licence.
However, therewerefewguests in the200-room
hotel thatthiscorrespondent wasstaying.Thesituation
wasthesameacrossthecitiesthiscorrespondentvis-
ited—nootherguestin the hotelin Mullaitivu,justa few
kilometersfromthespotof thelaststandof theTamil
Tigers in the Nandikadal Lagoon;a fewRedCrossrep-
resentativesin a hotelin the easterncoastcityof Battic-
aloa,anda fewIndian familieswhodidnothavethe
optionto cancel theirticketsandreservations at the hotel
in Beruwala,a townin thesoutherntouristbeltthat
spans fromColomboall the wayto Tangalle, about 200
kilometresaway.FEARANDFRISKING
Thestoryin cosmopolitanColombo wasno different.
Fearof anotherattackhangsin theair in almostall
hotels. Securityis tight:all vehicles arecheckedthor-
oughly; guests are friskedeachtimetheycomebackto
thehotel, andbaggage-screeningis more thana mere
routine.Machine-guntotingSri Lankanspecialforces
personnelguardthe entrancesandperimeterof the main
hotels, supplemented by the hotels’ own security.
Shangri-La, whereoneof the bombswentoff, wasclosed
untilearlyJune,whileCinnamonGrand,another hotel
which wasa target,is up andrunningwitha muchhigherTourism in tatters
Tourism,oneof thepillarsof theSriLankaneconomy, hastakena
beatingwiththe Easterblasts,leadingto emptyflightsandmass
cancellationsof hotelreservations.BYR.K.RADHAKRISHNANINSRILANKA
COVER STORY