Industry and medical authorities in talks for early tourism resumption

• Health officials express comfort with hotels cluster/travel bubble concept for starters
• 2 meetings held last week, another round of talks today with officials of Epidemiology Unit
• Singapore Airlines resuming flights to Colombo seen as positive for Sri Lanka and travel and tourism industry
• Successful resumption by Maldives from mid-July confirms thousands of tourists still looking for holidays despite pandemic; Maldives has attracted over 85,000 tourists 
• Vaccine breakthrough and use in UK big boost for tourism prospects

By Charumini de Silva

Talks are ongoing to resume international tourist arrivals under strict health and safety regulations, with industry sources welcoming the keenness and positive sentiments. 

Two rounds of discussions took place last week following President Gotabaya Rajapaksa going public earlier on that he was keen to resume international tourist arrivals with adequate safety guidelines and with Tourism Minister Prasanna Ranatunga advocating the same. 

The talks were between health authorities including the Health Services Director General and his team and officials of Tourism Ministry, Tourism Development Authority and select private sector industry representatives. Both sides had expressed their opinions and observations on both the opportunities and challenges. 

Another meeting is scheduled for today with the participation of officials from the Epidemiology Unit. 

“There was agreement to work together to open the country with a few more restrictions. They seem comfortable with a cluster/bubble concept to begin with,” an industry source told the Daily FT following the two meetings last week.

The hotels cluster/travel bubble approach was first mooted by the Tourism Minister-appointed 11-member Advisory Committee led by Hiran Cooray.

When the 2021 Budget votes for Tourism and Aviation Ministries came up in Parliament on Saturday, most of the MPs recommended the reopening of the airport. “Whether one likes it or not, we will reopen the airports for tourists early next year while adhering to health and safety guidelines,” said an emphatic Tourism Minister during his speech in Parliament on Saturday.

The industry is keen to follow advice of health authorities whilst extending its fullest support to contain the spread of COVID-19.

With the breakthrough of vaccination for COVID-19 and the UK beginning to use it from this week, industry believes there is a good opportunity for a “cautious yet certain” approach to reopen borders and resume international tourists. The UK is the second biggest source market for Sri Lanka tourism whilst the English cricket team is reportedly scheduled to visit Sri Lanka early next month to play two Test matches as well.

Sources said that the cluster/bubble approach would minimise concerns of health authorities whilst it gives the tourism industry an opportunity to step up their safety measures and fully comply with health guidelines more effectively.

Several tourism industry leaders including The Hotels Association of Sri Lanka (THASL) President Sanath Ukwatte and Sri Lanka Inbound Tour Operators (SLITO) President Thilak Weerasinghe have welcomed keenness by the President, Prime Minister and Tourism Minister to resume international tourist arrivals. 

Industry experts said the successful resumption by the Maldives is a case study to draw some inspiration for Sri Lanka though the two destinations are incomparable as the former has a large number of secluded islands. 

Since resuming international visitors on 15 July, the Maldives had attracted 85,846 tourists and according to the Maldives Tourism Minister Dr. Abdulla Mausoom by mid-December the number is expected to reach 100,000.

Between 15 July and 29 November, the Maldives had attracted 16,800 Russians, over 9,000 Indians, over 5,000 each from UK and the US; UAE (4,500) and Germany (3,791) are the other nationals. In November, it drew over 35,000 tourists, with the bulk of them from Russia, India, US, UK and Germany. 

In a fresh positive development for travel and tourism industry Singapore Airlines from yesterday resumed thrice-weekly flights to Colombo. Like many other airlines it suspended services in mid-March this year when the Government closed borders as part of measures to mitigate the spread of COVID-19. Pre-COVID SIA operated 11 flights per week.

The President on Monday virtually speaking at the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce Economic Summit acknowledged that the key tourism sector was the worst hit due to COVID. 

“Tourism usually contributes so much to our economy. Leaders in this industry together with the medical community must set out a plan to restart tourism as soon as possible,” the President said. 

“This plan must adhere to all health protocols and ensure tourists have an enjoyable stay in Sri Lanka while remaining isolated from the wider public. By imposing minimum lengths of stay and attracting high-spending tourists, it should maximise earnings from tourism so that the economy benefits overall,” Rajapaksa emphasised.

He said since the number of tourist arrivals may need to be limited early on, Sri Lanka should first reopen to the highest spending tourists. “This can also reposition Sri Lanka as a destination for higher end tourists, resulting in higher revenue generated by the industry in the long term,” the President added.