• Tourist and City Hotels associations give thumbs up for financial support

• Request moratorium for staff loans and leases as well

• SLAITO commends Govt. and military for assuring tourists’ safety, requesting foreign countries to lift adverse travel advisoriesr
  
   

By Charumini de Silva

The private sector yesterday hailed the Government›s financial assistance package to revive the Easter Sunday terror attacks-hit tourism industry, but asked that relief be extended to hotel employees as well.

Sanath Ukwatte

M. Shanthikumar

Harith Perera

In principle three industry bodies, the Hotels Association of Sri Lanka (THASL), the City Hotels Association (CHA), and the Sri Lanka Association of Inbound Tour Operators (SLAITO) welcomed the relief package announced on Tuesday by the Finance Ministry as critical support. “We are grateful to the Government for accommodating our requests and granting relief for the tourism sector at this time of need,” THASL President Sanath Ukwatte, CHA President M. Shanthikumar, and SLAITO President Harith Perera told the Daily FT.

Terror attacks in 3 churches and an equal number of five star hotels in the city on Easter Sunday killed over 250 people including 44 tourists and injured over 500.

Ukwatte and Shanthikumar, however, pointed out that there had been no official communication passed from the Tourism Development Ministry to the industry thus far.

“We haven’t got any official statement from the Tourism Development Ministry on the relief package approved by the Cabinet on Tuesday. Although we inquired yesterday, the Ministry was not in a position to provide any official statement on the detailed measures,” they added.

THASL and CCHA were also concerned as there was no mention about the moratoriums on hotel staff loans obtained via companies.

“Reading all the newspapers, we gathered that our request to waive off all personal loan interests, and reschedule the loans obtained by hotel employees for a period of two years, is missing. This was one of the top requests, as we cannot operate without our staff,” Ukwatte stressed.

He noted that they made the request for a moratorium on employee loans, because many of the staffers were getting a higher service charge than their fixed salary, and post-Easter Sunday attack, many companies are unable to offer the same rate of service charge, and employees were facing difficulties in repaying those loans.

“Both President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe gave a patient hearing to all our woes at this hour of need. However, we find that the Government had missed on the employee’s relief package. Therefore, we earnestly urge the authorities to reconsider our plea and not to forget our employees, as they are the lifeline of our industry,” Ukwatte added.

According to him, the hotel sector has over 175,000 direct employees, while the tourism industry has a total of over 500,000 employees, which translates into two million people getting affected throughout the country, considering a dependency of four family members per employee.

Shanthikumar also said relief for employees who not only have loans but also leases to repay is equally important, as a proper recovery will take longer. «At present, foreign guest occupancies in the city hotels are below 5%, and locals too are not patronising food and beverage outlets within hotels, though we hope the situation will improve soon,» he added.

SLAITO President said they welcome the positive statements from the President, Prime Minister and the military hierarchy on assuring safety and security of all foreign tourists, and requesting the foreign ambassadors to soften the travel advisories.

“With the impending PR blitz to be approved by the Cabinet, and the security audit by an international security establishment, I am sure Sri Lanka Tourism will bounce back sooner than expected,” Perera stressed. 

 

Hotels and airlines to meet today to firm up offers to lure tourists