Sri Lanka Tourism will go ahead with all its planned promotional programs across countries to position Sri Lanka on the global tourism map that will also help the industry to bounce back quickly from negative sentiments of the recent terrorist attacks, said Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA) and Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau (SLTPB) Chairman Kishu Gomes.
He said the industry will go ahead with the three-year global tourism promotion campaign after Cabinet approval has been obtained.
“We will not delay any of the promotional campaigns which have been in the back burner for several years. We will participate in the Arab Travel Mart which will be held from April 28-30. All these events will help promote the destination,” Gomes said.
Sri Lanka Tourism, according to Gomes, will partner with a global PR agency to run a campaign to re-build confidence on the country and re-position it among global travellers.
Sri Lanka Tourism will launch a short term PR campaign to raise awareness among stakeholders on the ongoing developments of the industry.
“I am not comparing Sri Lanka with other destinations but we need to bounce back similar to Bali and many Western counties that were affected by various issues. As the president of the United Nations World Tourism Organisation believes, Sri Lanka can withstand odds and be resilient to shocks,” Gomes said.
UNWTO President Zurab Pololikashvili in a letter to Tourism Development Minister John Amaratunga assured UNWTO’s solidarity and support to Sri Lanka to mitigate the negative impact of the terrorist attacks on tourisism.
The SLTDA chief said he cannot fix a time for the industry to bounce back due to the nature of the disaster. However, he said if security is ensured it will not take long for the industry to get back on its feet.
“All what we need is the security of travellers. The rest will be taken care of by the industry,” the SLTDA chief said.
On measures taken following Sunday’s attacks on hotels, Gomes said the SLTDA had assigned officers to the three hotels to coordinate relief work, and also assigned officers to government and private hospitals to liaise with the relatives of the deceased and injured and deployed teams to arrival and departure lounges of the BIA to coordinate with airport and aviation officials to comfort visitors whose relatives had died or were injured. Hotel operators in Colombo said they are optimistic the leisure industry will bounce back from the recent terror attacks on hotels with plans being mooted to tighten security to ensure safety of guests, a vital component to attract visitors.
“We are confident the hotel sector will re-bounce from the crisis and all hotels will be back in business soon. Our hotels are open for residential guests and new bookings,” a top official of Cinnamon Hotels and Resorts said.
However, with regard to non-residential guests at hotels that were affected, hoteliers said they would decide soon after the inspections are completed. Cancellation of hotel bookings have been reported across many hotels in the city according to the City Hotels Association of Sri Lanka. However, hoteliers did not disclose the number of cancellations.
“There are cancellations on our properties but we are hopeful of getting the full occupancy rate back soon,” a Cinnamon Hotels and Resorts official said. City Hotels Association President M. Shanthikumar said there has been a considerable amount of cancellations in city hotels and added that the tourism industry will feel the impact of the attacks in the months to come.
He said the government has pledged its fullest support to provide security to all city hotels to ensure the safety of guests from the time of arrival to departure.
“The authorities are in talks with hotel operators to strengthen security in hotels. It is up to the Government to ensure safety in hotels,” Shanthikumar said. Insurance on hotels affected by the spate of attacks are being worked out by the hotels and insurance companies.
“Insurance is part and parcel of the operation. However, our team is discussing with the insurance company and the outcome will be known soon,” a Cinnamon Hotels and Resorts official said.
Jetwing Group Chairman Hiran Cooray said it is entirely up to the Government to secure the country from any form of threat for tourism to thrive.
“Proper measures should be in place to build confidence and comfort travellers,” Cooray said.
Security in the city has been beefed up following the Easter Sunday suicide attacks. The Islamic State known as IS claimed responsibility for the attacks which killed over 250 and injured around 500 people. The tourism industry recorded a 4.6 percent growth in the number of arrivals last month over the corresponding period last year with the number of visitors surpassing 240,000 during the month.
Sri Lanka Tourism targets three million tourists to the country this year with revenue from visitors expected to cross the US$ 4 billion mark. Sri Lanka attracted 2.3 million visitors last year. India, China, UK, Germany, France have been key markets for Sri Lanka.