Amid rising tension and fears of more terror attacks, Sri Lanka faces a massive blow to its economy as thousands of holidaymakers cancel trips after the UK Foreign Office (FCO) advised against all but essential travel.
The change in guidance has prompted British citizens in the country to cut short their holidays and return to the UK, and many more to cancel forthcoming trips, causing a $1.5bn (£1.15bn) loss to the economy and leaving thousands of tourism workers facing uncertainty.
Tourism is a central pillar of the Sri Lankan economy. The hotel industry employs about 200,000 people but millions more rely on tourism work for their income, including tuk-tuk drivers, guides, and owners of cafes, restaurants and guest houses.
“Until a few days ago, this was paradise,” said Samir Naumeh, 61, an Italian-Syrian who moved to Colombo a few years ago and runs a popular Italian restaurant in an upmarket neighbourhood, who has seen dozens of reservations cancelled in the week since the Easter Sunday attacks. “People thought there would be peace forever. If nothing else happens, maybe it’ll be like this for three or four months. Then we’ll start again.”
Charlie Austin, the founder of a Colombo-based travel agency, Red Dot Tours, which employs 90 people, described his business as going into “survival mode”.
“Sri Lanka has been through many challenges but this represents a very serious threat to the industry. Our staff are very important and the last thing we want is to lose them. The first thing we will do is slash non-essential expenditure and freeze projects.”
Since the end of the 26-year civil war in 2009, tourism earnings and employment have grown by more than 500%. The industry ranks as the country’s third highest foreign exchange earner after personal remittances and clothes exports, with earnings at about $4.4bn in 2018. Tourist arrivals reached 2.3 million in 2018, up from 1.4 million in 2014, and the country hoped to welcome 4 million visitors a year by 2020.
On Friday the Sri Lankan president said police were still looking for 140 people believed to have links toIslamic State, and Sufi mosques were warned of an increased threat of violence. But the ministry of tourism has criticised the FCO’s ban. “The UK travel advice is premature, given that terrorist attacks have taken place even in London, Paris, New York, Frankfurt etc, and is now a global phenomenon,” said a spokesperson.
“With its history of effectively dealing with terrorism, Sri Lanka is actually better prepared to deal with the issue than many other countries.”
The spokesperson insisted the country was “as safe as any other top destination in the world” and “open for business and is looking forward to welcome tourists”.
But travellers anxious about being in the country at such an unstable time were already cancelling holidays before the FCO changed its advice.
Hannah Edmonson was due to travel to Sri Lanka and the Maldives on a two-week holiday with her partner on Friday, after saving up for a year. She cancelled the trip on Wednesday. “We felt as though we wouldn’t be able to relax, which is the whole purpose of a holiday, and that we would rather go another time and experience the country at a less turbulent time.”
The warning against all but essential travel means travellers will be able to claim against their insurance policies in the case of cancellation. In a statement on its website, the Association of British Insurers said: “Cancellation cover under your travel insurance should cover additional costs that cannot be refunded by your travel provider. If you are currently in Sri Lanka and want to curtail your visit and return early, your travel insurance should cover any extra costs associated with rearranging return flights.”
May and June are the lowest seasons in terms of tourist arrivals in Sri Lanka, with hotel occupancy typically at about 50%. Malik Fernando of Resplendent Ceylon, which runs three luxury boutique hotels, predicts that figure will fall to 25% in May. Tour operators and hoteliers say the impact on tourist numbers will be much greater if the FCO continues to advise against travel into the peak summer months. “I really hope the advice will be reviewed and toned down,” said Fernando. “The tourism industry is so critical to our economy. It’s a loss all round.”
Bonnie Perera, 62, works for a tourism company as a driver. From his vantage point in the arrivals area at the airport near Colombo, he says the number of tourists arriving has plummeted. “Planes with 250 or 300 seats are arriving with just 25 tourists on them,” he said. “People are taking precautions. We are hoping it will just be for a month or two, but there is a lot of uncertainty.”
