Travel

Tourism picks up afterdawn of peace

by Lalin FERNANDOPULLE

Peace and signs of an early recovery from the global economic shock have brought about rich dividends to Sri Lanka's tourism industry which is now ready after a long lull.

The leisure sector, ensures a funfilled holiday for tourists is making preparations for the year end mega celebrations and for the much expected European winter.

City hoteliers have lined up a series of activities to entertain guests who now arrive with a peace of mind and in large droves, to spend an incident-free holiday.

Many hotels have received a facelift and are ready with a top quality service in par with international standards.

The Waters Edge will open a restaurant by the end of this month with a four by four track facility that would provide ample space for parking and the General Manager, Thusith Samaraweera said plans are afoot to commence the hotel room project shortly. "Platters, the world renowned musical entertainers will be in the island on Nov. 2 and 3.

Hotels in the outskirts are ready to mesmerise new visitors with some of the unique attractions typical to our tropical island.

This year's celebrations to mark the World Tourism Day was confined to tree planting along the Marine Drive in Colombo though there was wide scope of activities under the theme 'Tourism celebrating Diversity'.

The tourism industry has rebounded with number of arrivals increasing each month.

A large number of German tourists arrived last week which is a good sign.

The number of arrivals rose from 32,000 in June to over 40,000 in August and the figures were expected to exceed the target this year.

Traffic volume improves, but costs rise

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) announced international scheduled traffic results for August. Compared to August 2008, passenger demand was down 1.1%, (an improvement compared to the 2.9% decline in July), and freight demand fell by 9.6% (also an improvement compared to the 11.3% drop in July).

Compared to August 2008, passenger load factors improved by 1.2 percentage points to 80.9%. Despite the tighter supply and demand conditions average fares continue to be depressed (-22% for premium seats and -18% for economy).

To match capacity with demand, airlines have reduced daily aircraft utilization in recent months. For example, average daily hours for the global Boeing 777 fleet dropped by 2.7% to 11.1 hours per day through the first eight months of the year. Lower utilization helps load factors, but spreading fixed asset costs over fewer hours in the air pushes up unit costs.

“Demand continues to improve, but profitability remains ever distant,” said Giovanni Bisignani, IATA’s Director General and CEO. “Fares have stabilized, but at profitless levels. Meanwhile cost pressures are mounting from reduced aircraft utilization and rising oil prices. The industry is not out of the woods yet,” said Bisignani.

International Passenger Demand:

Compared to the low point of March 2009, seasonally adjusted passenger demand has improved by 6%, but traffic levels remain 5% below May, 2008 when the fall in demand began. All regions, except the Middle East, saw improved demand conditions in August compared to July:

Asia-Pacific carriers recorded the most significant improvement moving from a -7.6% drop in July to -1.6% in August. This improvement is somewhat exaggerated as August, 2008 was the start of the steep decline in passenger demand for the region’s airlines. This region is where second and third-quarter growth has been strongest, boosted by massive government and Central Bank stimulus packages and fewer problems with consumer debt and bank balance sheets.

European and North American carriers saw smaller improvements driven by exposure to more robust long-haul markets, rather than local economies. European carriers saw demand fall 2.8% compared to August, 2008 (up from the -3.1% recorded for July). For North American carriers, the improvement was to -2.5% in August compared to -3.2% in July.

Middle Eastern carriers were the only region to show year-on-year growth with demand expanding by 10.8%. This is below the 13.2% recorded in July due to a distortion resulting from the earlier start of Ramadan compared with last year. Middle East carriers continue to win market share on long-haul travel via their expanding hubs.

Latin American carriers saw demand improve to -2.3% in August (from -3.5% in July). Passenger confidence, dampened by Influenza A(H1N1) is returning with the end of flu season in the southern hemisphere.

African carriers showed the weakest demand at -4.9% in August.

This was a slight improvement on the -5.5% recorded in July.

For 2010 IATA’s latest industry outlook anticipates average international passenger growth of just over 4.0%, compared to an expected full-year decline in 2009 of almost 5.0%.

 Aitken Spence opens Tamara in India

Aitken Spence Hotels and Resorts is pleased to announce the latest addition to its portfolio of hotels in India with the opening of ‘Tamara’ in Coimbatore.

Situated in the foothills of the Western Ghats, Tamara is nestled in a fairytale setting. The surroundings of the resort with the panoramic view of the mountains and the water front provide tranquillity and spirituality to the guests.

Tamara is equipped with eight air-conditioned luxury tents; each with two double beds and an attached bathroom. The next phase will see the addition of 14 air-conditioned cottages. The resort also offers holistic treatments based on traditional Ayurveda in conjunction with a specialist in the field, Arya Vaidya Pharmacy (AVP). Guests can have the luxury of receiving the treatments either in the comfort of their room or in the private Ayurveda spa. For the adventurous, the resort offers kayaking, trekking, mountain climbing, angling and water sports. Aitken Spence Hotels is an emerging player in the Indian hospitality industry already managing four other resorts in India -

Heritance Madurai in Madurai, Atithi in Puducherry, Poovar Island Resort on the backwaters of Kerela, Barefoot at Havelock in the Andaman Islands.

Aitken Spence Hotel Managements (South India) Pvt Ltd is a company incorporated for the purpose of development and management of hotels in South India.

Aitken Spence Hotels is part of the Sri Lanka based diversified conglomerate Aitken Spence PLC which manages over 25 hotels in Sri Lanka, Maldives, India and Oman.

“With the launch of Tamara we have further strengthened the presence of Aitken Spence Hotels in the region. With the expected revival of the Indian economy, we are optimistic about the future of the industry and are positively looking towards expansion in India”, said Chief Executive Officer, Aitken Spence Hotel Managements in India Lakshman Ekanayake.