By Maitri
No sooner than Lonely Planet announced Sri Lanka as the best place to visit in 2019, the country faced a terrorist attack on April 21 killing more than 250 people. Along with three churches, three luxury hotels were targeted that included mass murder of 45 foreign nationals. The land of historical temples, old cliffs, serene beaches and dense national parks was traumatised by the sudden panic which resulted in an unexpected drop in the tourism industry. Earlier, the civil war in the country affected the tourism growth but soon the industry acknowledged a boon of tourism growth from 5,00,000 to 2.5 million in 2019.
Tourism in Sri Lanka contributes to almost 5percent of the country’s GDP amounting to 4.4 billion dollars. More than 10percent of the total employment in the country directly or indirectly depended on the tourism industry. Though there was a 12percent increase in tourism in 2018 as compared to 2017, the Easter bombings resulted in an 80percent reduction in tourists after April 2019. Nevertheless, the government is expecting a cut down in revenue of 3.7 billion dollars from an initial forecast of 5 billion dollars.
In 2018, 29 airlines offered 300 flights per week to Sri Lanka and almost 2.3 million tourists visited the country. But after the attacks, 41 flights per week were canceled resulting in a loss of 8000 passenger seats.
To draw more tourists, along with bringing up attractive offer prices, Sri Lankan government has also cut down the airfares. The government has reduced the price of aviation fuel, ground handling and embarkation fees for six months at Bandaranaike International Airport, Colombo.
Chairman of the Board of Airline Representatives, Dimuthu Tennakoon said this decision will encourage airlines to increase their capacity and offer attractive deals to the new passengers. He further added that it will definitely happen with this reduction because fuel and ground handling contribute a significant percentage of the total cost of an airline.
Sri Lanka’s consul general Chamari Rodrigo has assured that the security situation in the country has improved and more than 95percent of the domestic terror network has been devastated. Along with many other foreign countries, India had also cut down its flight schedules after the attacks but has again revived its second Delhi-Colombo flight from July 15.
World history has encountered many terror attacks in Tunisia (2015), Egypt (2013) and France (2015 and 2016). Though all of them faced a major shoot down in their tourism sector, they recovered the trauma and again flourished to their thrones. Being no exception, the Sri Lankan government with all its effort is also looking forward in making the country a diverse and authentic tourism experience by 2025.