"Small Island, Big Trip" (Big Trouble)

"Small Island, Big Trip" (Big Trouble)

Sharon Melder – www.riunit.com

As hostilities between the Sri Lankan government forces and the LTTE escalated to new heights in recent months, violence spread outside of the North and East war zone, trickling down into the central and southern parts of the country. Having earlier last week carried out an atrocious suicide attack when the rebels rammed a explosives packed vehicle into a naval convoy of buses near the tourist city of Habarana, resulting in the death at least 103 people, the LTTE proved it still has a capacity to deal an unexpected blow. The incident comes after at least 129 Sri Lankan soldiers were killed and 300 were injured in fighting during the worst single day of casualties for the military since a ceasefire was signed in 2002. Two days later the rebels infiltrated the Galle port, killing two more people, injuring several others and destroying three navy crafts.

The city of Galle having got its name from a Portuguese fleet that landed in 1505 is currently home to the Sri Lankan military which utilises the Galle harbour to import arms and ammunition for security forces following numerous threats to the bigger port of Colombo, which is currently an under utilised container hub for South Asia.

The historical Southern town has been a much-loved hotspot for holidaymakers who congregate to its sandy beaches and inviting resorts in the area. Occupancies however has been low in recent times, following an upsurge in local violence between the Sri Lankan government and rebels.

Restrain Orders

The Canberra government, having got a whiff of things to come issued a warning in early October to its nationals looking to travel or currently in the Island to reconsider their need to travel, due to an increase in violent crimes against foreigners including kidnappings for ransom. The advisory statement has ruffled more than a few feathers within the Sri Lanka Foreign Ministry and the Tourist board prompting the two bodies to take the matter up with the Australian Government.

In the light of renewed attacks, the U.S. Embassy has also recommended that Americans currently in the Island suspend travelling to Galle at this point of time. Due to the latest incident and the October 16 attack that killed over 100 naval personnel in Habarana, The US embassy cautions its nationals to be aware of the increased possibility of communal violence both in Galle and in other parts of the country. The embassy web site further goes on to state that whenever possible military installations, military convoys travelling on the roads, government buildings, should be avoided as they have in the past been targets for LTTE violence. All of it representing a worrying notification, when the Island was preparing to receive over 600,000 holidaymakers.

Salvage Operation

The Sri Lanka - Small Island, Big Trip campaign which ran from March to August this year across Mumbai, New Delhi, Chennai, Bangalore and Hyderabad, brought in an extra 10,000 visitors over the same period the previous year. India is the Island’s largest tourist market and its public are among the top spenders in the country, frequenting Sri Lanka for shopping as well as cultural and nature tourism
Further intensified check-points throughout the city of Colombo as well as amplified attacks on rebel held positions by the security forces has resulted in holiday makers by-passing the island. A noteworthy reduction of 11.6 percent to 38,485 visitors is recorded in the month of September over the corresponding period 2005.
While the expectancy level of tourists was as high 600,000 this year, the Tourist Board says arrivals for the nine months up to September grew 9.5 percent to 443,972 in caparison to the same period in 2005. “Until very recently bookings were really slow”, secretary to the Tourism Ministry, Prathap Ramanujam was quoted expressing his views to LBO, referring to dismal visitor arrival figures. Although visitor arrivals in September fell almost 12 percent, the Tourism Board is hoping that discount airfares initiated by the national carrier coinciding with a swell in the number of flights the airliner Emirates would be operating to the Island and the intended peace talks scheduled for the end of the month between the government and LTTE would stem the slide and salvage the peak winter season.

Arrivals from India, the island’s top source of holidaymakers, demonstrated a 0.4 percent growth to 9,506 in September over the same period in 2005. Traditional key markets of Britain and Germany, which attracts the customary sun 'n surf discount packages, continued to weaken as travellers looking to avoid the impending cold weather cancelled their holidays due to the upsurge in violence. German arrivals fell 19.8 percent to 3,180, while holidaymakers from Briton slipped 18.9 percent to 6,261. During the period of January – August this year a total of 17,390 Australians visited the Island, a marginal drop from the previous years’ figure of 18,537.

The six month promotional campaign run across top metro cities in India paid-off and resulted in a substantial increase in visitor arrivals, a local industry group reported last week, stating that a 22 percent jump in Indian visitors was recorded during a successful six months promotional campaign. The increased Indian traffic also resulted in additional earnings of 600 million rupees according to the Tourism Cluster – a grouping of private sector tourism associations and firms and The Competitiveness Program (TCP) in Sri Lanka (LBO).

Hitting where it hurts

However even with the increase in travellers from our neighbouring country, most guesthouses, motels, inns and smaller hotels ‘down south’ are laying off staff in some cases according to reports. For the first time in the history of tourism in Sri Lanka, the average duration of stay fell below nine nights to 8.7, as compared to 10.1 nights in the previous year. The overall room occupancy rate dipped substantially to 45.4 per cent in 2005 as compared to 59.3 per cent in the previous year – a decrease by
13.9 percentage points. The average duration of stay in registered accommodation establishments fell sharply to 5.9 nights in 2005 as compared to 8.4 nights in the previous year – a drop by almost 2.5 nights

Stuart Young a partner of a guest house / restaurant located in Galle, expressed his concerns indicating that the guest house had to be closed off in June this year due to a unhealthy season, many of the staff also had been relieved of there duties as local and foreign tourist dried up. Having hoped to reopen for the winter season, they are now concerned as to how business would survive another year. Holiday makers have a vast choice of locations around the world to spend there vacation so why choose Sri Lanka when safer places exist. While the intention of the LTTE may have not been to targeted tourists, they succeed in striking where it hurts the most.
In an additional blow to Sri Lanka's already wounded hospitality industry, Tourism Minister Anura Bandaranaike was quoted in media reports as saying his conscience did not allow him to ask visitors to come to the island. The Ministers comments bewildered many of those attending a meeting held last week with tour industry officials. Many others may have been encouraged by the sincere note of honesty coming form the senior political figure.

Nevertheless, the day after five Tiger rebel boats tried to shoot their way into a key naval base in Galle, carefree foreigners converged in resort swimming pools or sunbathed on the area's somewhat unspoiled white sands. The bad publicity however has failed to alarm the frequent visitor to Sri Lanka. One hotel manager ‘down south’ said “we've had British and American guests who said this was just a small terror attack compared to the ones their countries have suffered”, adding he had only 20 cancellations, all of which were by Sri Lankan’s hoping to visit the costal area from Colombo. While another hotelier felt that three decades of separatist conflict in Sri Lanka had arrived "on our doorstep", adding, that "it was not much of a military strike, but it did send a ripple through the tour industry”.

Without a doubt the Island of Sri Lanka has much to offer holiday-makers both foreign and local, for in all probability the country could be sited as the most flawlessly premeditated location on Earth, surrounded completely by stunning unspoiled beaches, lush hills and abundant wildlife parks filled with numerous exotic creatures. The costal region dotted with luxurious colonial as well as contemporary hotels and guest house, while extensive tea plantations and ancient cities await eager explorers, mountaintop temples offer enthralling cultural discovery and diversity. The country is like a mini-continent of wonders, unfortunately violence adds one element too many.

Copyrights Reserved (RIU 2006). Prepared exclusively for the Business Standard.