Sanath Ukwatte, chairman of the colonial-era Mount Lavinia hotel in Colombo, said he lost about 30% of his bookings within days of the Easter Sunday attacks that killed 253 people.
NEW DELHI – The cancellations started before the dust had settled on the hotels and churches hit by suicide bombers in Sri Lanka as tourists and operators pressed the panic button.
And the crisis could get worse before it gets better for the island nation, whose palm-fringed beaches and mountain tea plantations were recently named the best place to visit in 2019 by the Lonely Planet guide.Sri Lanka’s Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera had hoped tourism would earn a record $5.0 billion this year, up from $4.4 billion in 2018. He thinks the attacks could now see the country lose up to one-third of that.
Ruchir Desai, a senior investment analyst with Asia Frontier Capital in Hong Kong, said the next year will be a tough one for Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka's tourism is heading into its low season, and Ukwatte believes if confidence can be restored by October or November, "then we will be able to revive the industry with European winter travellers."
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