By Charumini de Silva

Sri Lanka Tourism said yesterday it had decided to revise the 2020 arrivals and earnings forecast following the impact of the new coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak and the partial shutdown of the Bandaranaike Airport from tomorrow.

“The tourism sector is currently one of the hardest hit by the outbreak of COVID-19. Considering the evolving nature of the situation, it is too early to estimate the full impact of COVID-19 on earnings and arrivals, but clearly there’s a negative impact and we will revise the targets,” Sri Lanka Tourism Chairperson Kimarli Fernando told Daily FT.

“The COVID-19 outbreak has decimated many top source markets of Sri Lanka, but for us the timing of the plunge is particularly unfortunate as the industry was on its path to recovery from the Easter Sunday terror attacks last year. Originally 2020 was supposed to be a big year for Sri Lanka, as we had planned for a significant surge in visitor traffic. However, the ambitious plans of Sri Lanka Tourism for 2020 are now under threat from the COVID-19 crisis,” Fernando pointed out. 

Sri Lanka Tourism Chairperson Kimarli Fernando

The UNWTO estimates international tourist arrivals could decline by 1% to 3% or 15 million to 44 million in 2020 globally, as opposed to the original 3% to 4% growth estimated in early January.

In terms of supporting the hotel sector which is grappling with multiple issues of occupancy, cancellations and paying staff salaries, Fernando said Tourism Minister Prasanna Ranatunga had already informed President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, Cabinet and the Treasury on extending the financial moratorium.

Fernando reiterated that the Government had made tourism an economic growth priority and had backed this up with an expansion of BIA capacity this year, whilst also giving international status to Ratmalana and Jaffna airports.

The Government expects to increase the annual tourist arrival figure to six million by 2025 and make tourism a $ 10 billion industry. This was also a key promise outlined in President Rajapaksa’s manifesto ‘Visions of Prosperity and Splendour’.

Prior to the emergence of COVID-19, Tourism Minister Prasanna Ranatunga in January said the target for 2020 was 3.5-4 million tourists and $ 5 billion in earnings, up from 1.9 million tourists and $ 3.6 billion in earnings in Easter Sunday tragedy-hit 2019 and 2.3 million and $ 4.38 billion in 2018.

As a direct result of COVID-19, tourist arrivals in February declined by 17% to 207,507. Cumulative tourist arrivals over the first two months of the year fell 12% to 435,941.

Govt. extends validity of Sri Lankan visa for foreigners