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| Sunday, 16 November 2003 |
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| News Business Features Editorial
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Tourist arrivals picking up One of the initial casualties of last week's political stand-off, following the take over of the ministries of Defence, Interior and Media by President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga, was tourism. Hotels, tour operators and airlines reported cancellations, the numbers of which were serious enough to cause concern. The tourism industry has been gearing up for the invasion of the 'barmy army' in connection with the English Cricket team's tour of Sri Lanka. Hotels reported capacity booking and several measures were being taken to accommodate the anticipated influx. But the political shenanigans of November 4 put a spoke of sorts, making industry analysts fear the worst. However, almost two weeks into the political stand off, with the English tour all set to get under way as scheduled and hotel occupancy rates bouncing back, the industry too has shrugged off the early sense of unease. But is it business as usual... by Elmo Leonard The two-week-old political stand off must end forthwith, if a healthy environment for tourist arrivals is to prevail, Managing Director of Jetwing Travels, Ms Shiromal Cooray said. If the crisis continued a doubt would be created in the minds of the international community as to whether peace would continue in the island. What is an internal problem between two leaders was blown out of proportion by the sensation-thriving First World media, Cooray said. Shown all over the world by media powerhouses were files running, of incidents which took place during the 20-year-war in the island. BBC displayed the attack on the airport, over two years ago; one of the darkest hours in the history of the nation. The bomb attack on Sri Lanka's economic core, Queen Street, Colombo 1, which housed Central Bank and other commercial nucleii, on January 31, 1996, was also shown. This led to a lot of cancellations of tours and Jetwing experienced over 200 people staying back, while other foreigners were still postponing their bookings, Cooray observed. Earlier reports said that in the first week of the crisis, Sri Lanka experienced 2000 cancellations. The average `Jetwing tourist' spends 10 to 14 nights here, and incurs an average expense of $800 during their stay. Jetwing is a leading travel agent with 14 hotels around the island. The arrivals they lost, were mainly Asians, from Singapore, India, Malaysia and a lesser number from Europe. It is a great disappointment that a crisis of this nature has occurred, at a time when the island was erasing its 20-year reputation as a warring nation and tourist arrivals were improving with resultant appreciation in rates charged, Cooray said. Walker Tours, the largest tour operator in Sri Lanka backed by the Keells group of hotels had from January to end-October lured in 37,450 tourists into the island. This tour operator experienced sizable withdrawals. Their visitors, from India, UK, France, Italy and other parts of Western Europe and the Middle East average stays of seven nights, spending $300 to $450 per person. People who were planning to visit Sri Lanka would have found another destination and those numbers cannot be quantified, Walker's manager, Shanitha Fernando said. The whole world was watching Sri Lanka and if the current crisis continues, it would be very detrimental to the local tourist industry, Fernando said. The Confifi Group of Hotels, riding high on arrivals with Riverina and Eden Hotel, having an occupancy of 90 percent and some future bookings fully sold out, were able to cushion the blow of a few cancellations, Marketing Manager M. U. Lantra said. "However, it would have affected out travel agents," he said. Confifi also owns a hotel in Bangladesh. Aitken Spence, a large player in the travel business, owning three resort hotels in the Maldives, experienced 50 to 60 cancellations in the first few days of the crisis. Aitken Spence had communicated effectively with their tour operators around the world and made it clear, that it was a political crisis and had nothing to do with the security of the land, its Director Planning and Development, Tikiri Ellepola said. Hemtours, one of the largest tour operators did not experience cancellations or repercussions resulting from the political crisis. Throughout the problem they had kept their tour operators around the world informed that what took place in Sri Lanka, was only a constitutional crisis and would not in any way endanger tourism, a Hemtour spokesperson said. The occupancy of Colombo's five star hotels consists 50 percent of business travellers called `FIT clients' in tourism jargon and are often high-spenders. Some of Colombo's hotels said they experienced immediate cancellations. Cancellations result in the traveller having to pay back 25 percent of the total package and although this `fine' is inevitable, globally, it ends up as bad business on the part of the recipient. Cancellations mean lost business and in marketing terms, business lost, is business lost forever, Ceylon Continental Hotel's Sales Manager, Dinesh Karunaratne commented. Before the crisis, some of Colombo's hotels were experiencing 100 percent occupancy. "Now, ours is 90 percent," Karunaratne said Friday, last week. Over two years ago, most of Colombo's five star hotels had lean occupancy rates and their stock prices were unbelievably low. Some of these hotels seemed "beyond redemption" economically. Galadari stocks sold at Rs 2 per share. Just before the crisis, Galadari stocks rose to Rs 18 per share, and last week, traded at Rs. 12.50 per share. Following the 1997 bomb blast, in Galadari's car park, aimed at blowing up the inestimable Colombo Stock Exchange software, nearby, Galadari, was to open four floors, shut since. "Christmas arrivals are OK, but the unknown factor is long-term repercussions, if the current crisis lasts," Siriwardena said. Hilton Colombo was an exception during lean times, of yesteryear, drawing in tourists more evidently business persons. Hilton, brimmed with tourists just before the political crisis; Friday, ran at 92 percent occupancy. A few of Hilton's banquet functions were cancelled, as an immediate echo of the dilemma, but Hilton's Director Marketing Communications, Ms Yasmin Cader thought that the Hilton clientele would persist, "as long as peace prevails." Ceylon Tourist Board officials were not available for comment, at the time of writing. |
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