anceof tradeto thecountry’seconomy. Oneof hisfirst
requeststo headsof missions in Colombowasto consider
withdrawing the traveladvisoriestheyhadputout.But
despite manycountries withdrawing them,tourist traffic
hasnotpickedup. Hotels, restaurants andbanquets are
taking a pounding—multiple instances of wedding
partiesbeingaskedto cut downon the numberof guests
andkeepit simple are emerging fromhotelsandplacesof
worship.Manysmallerhotelshaveshutshop, unableto
payfor the upkeep.
Anecdotal evidencefromIndiaindicates thatSri
Lankahas cooledoff as a tourist destination.Thedeath of
mid-level politicians fromKarnatakahasshockedthe
State,leadingto cancellations.Sometouroperators who
organise spiritualtripsalongthemade-upRamayana
trailhavebacked off for the year.
Thereportingtimeat theairporthasnowbeenin-
creased to fourhoursaheadof aflight. Securityis tight
but not as menacingas in Srinagarin JammuandKash-
mir. There are multiplecheckpointsand bagsare
screened multipletimesbeforetheyare loaded on to the
aircraft. Despitethepleasantsecuritypersonnel,the
multi-tiersecurityat the airportmakesbotharrivaland
departure not-very-pleasant experiences.
No wonderthat the Sri Lankan tourist arrivals,which
wasaveragingover2.4 lakheverymonthbetweenJanu-
aryandMarch,suddenlyfellto 1.7 lakhin April,with
almostall the cancellationscoming afterApril 21. If the
trendof touristarrivalsin thefirst threemonths of the
yearhadheld,Sri Lankawould havecrossedthemile-
stoneof a milliontouristsby endApril.Becauseof the
blasts,the numberdeclinedto 9.1 lakh(8.9lakhduring
thesameperiodin 2018),accordingto theTourism
Department’s official statistics.
“Hoteloccupancyhasbeenbetween3 per centand 5
percent,”saidthe managerof a hotelwherethiscorres-
pondent wasstaying. Speaking to a localtelevision chan-
nel,News 1st, on June 6, the president of the Sri Lanka
HotelsAssociation,SanathUkwatte,said touristbookings
haddroppedfrom70 percentto 7 percent.A June 4
reportin EconomyNext,a Webnewsportal,saidarrivals
fell 70 per cent to 37,000 in May 2019.Themonthsof
April,MayandJuneandSeptemberandOctoberare
consideredSri Lanka’soff-peaktouristseasonwhenar-
rivalsusuallyfall,but thereare no parallelsfromthe recent
pastwithwhichthe currentdip in trafficcan be compared.
Sri LankaTourismPromotionBoard(SLTPB)chair-
manKishuGomestoldEconomyNext thatwithsecurity
being tightenedto ensure safetyfor visitors,the number
of arrivalsis expectedto go up.Thefirst signof an
improvementin the situationwillbe seenat the Colombo
InternationalLogistics Conference 2019 in August, or-
ganised to promotethe island’s attractionsas an interna-
tionallogistics hub.
Thefirst big festivalcomingup afterthe blastsis the
August KandyPerehara, a colourful festivalthatis celeb-
ratedwithprocession,prayers,songanddance.Thosein
the touristtradehope the governmentattemptsto norm-
alisethesituationby thenandalsobeginthevisaon
arrivalfacility. September is surfing season in Arugam
Bayin EastSri Lanka. If touristarrivals do not pickup by
August-September,touroperatorssay the nextpeaksea-
son,starting October, mightalsofollowsuit.Soonafter
the blasts, someof the cancellationswerefor the surfing
season.
Representativesof thetraveltradesaythatif peace
doesnot hold,Sri Lanka staresat a longwinter.Overtwo
lakhpeopleare directlyemployed in the sectorandany
moredisruptionswillkill off Sri Lankaas a touristdestin-
ation. $ASTREETINGALLEthatis usuallycrowdedwithtouristsis nowempty.
ERANGAJAYAWARDENA/AP