Sri Lanka tourism which is recovering from the Easter Sunday blasts is poised for a major setback with over 20,000 cancelations expected from China due to the Coronavirus.
Already one Chinese national who was touring Sri Lanka from January 19 to 24 with a Chinese Travel group of 24 was tested positive for the virus and was hospitalized at IDH.
Acting Managing Director Sri Lanka Tourism Promotions Bureau and Director PR, Madhubani Perera said that this was the peak season for tourist arrivals from China due to their new year and due to lockdowns on several Chinese cities Sri Lanka would see a dip of around 20,000 arrivals this year.”
In addition the immediate removal of ‘free visa on arrival’ facility to Chinese tourists would also be a negative factor for Chinese arrivals. She also disclosed that Sri Lanka would stop the free visa on arrival facility from January 31 for 44 countries. “We had made a proposal to the Cabinet requesting to extend this facility until April 31 but no approval were received and hence the facility would be automatically terminated from 31.”
The Immigration Department said that they lost several billions of rupees due to the free visa facility which was USD 35 per person.
Meanwhile President of Tourist Hotels Association (THASL) Sanath Ukwatte said that the country should not panic as most of the countries have found Coronavirus infected patients including 5 patients in Singapore. “The Social media and several parties with vested interests are trying to plant stories and create panic via social media.” Sri Lanka was following World Health Organization guide lines and the industry was happy about it. He however said that there would be a negative impact from the Corona virus but added that it would not be long term.
Currently there are around 800 Chinese tourists in Sri Lanka.
“The Chinese group where the victim was detected was on a round trip and they stayed in four star class hotels,” an official from Sri Lanka Inbound Tour Operators (SLITO) said. He said that due to privacy issues the IDH hospital was not releasing the name of the guest and due to this the hotels whose names are mentioned in on social media find it difficult to check in which room, the victim stayed.
“However most of the hotels where the group had stayed (as mentioned in social media) have contacted the Medical Officer of Health (MOH) and taken counter measures to curb the virus and to date no other guests or staff have been reported of having the virus.”
He said that the outbound market to China too would be affected as group travel is been restricted.
SriLankan Airlines said that they have no immediate plans to stop flights to China. However Chinese airlines flying to Colombo commented that they are studying the situation and would take a decision later. The Colombo airport has also tooken counter measures on the instructions of Health Minister Pavithra Vanniarachchi who visited the airport last morning. No visitors other than the passenger would be allowed to come to the airport. In addition a special area has been designated for Chinese tourists.
A special medical team has been deployed at the Bandaranaike International Airport in order to conduct tests on passengers who arrive from China.
However scanner machines have not been installed at the Jaffna International Airport, a hotelier from Jaffna said.
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