Travel agents renew call to abolish minimum rates

Monday, 17 October 2016 00:01 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Say Sri Lanka Tourism and all stakeholders will reap benefits in long term

Travel agents have welcomed the Government’s move to abolish minimum room rates though city hotels have objected, prompting Tourism Minister John Amaratunga to hint that the current status quo would remain in place for two more years.

“There were proposals made to remove the minimal rate of Colombo City Hotels. We said we will consider it and we will implement it. However, we have not decided anything. We were expecting feedback from different angles whether we should implement it or not. Currently, the view is that it should remain in place for at least another couple of years,” the Minister said last week in a clear change of stance since the Ministry in July announced it would end minimum room rates in Colombo from March 2017.

However, leading travel agents have renewed the call for the abolition. In a special interview with the Daily FT, Aitken Spence Travels Managing Director Nalin Jayasundera, Diethelm Travel Sri Lanka Managing Director Harith Perera, NKAR Travels and Tours Managing Director Nilmin Nanayakkara, JourneyScapes Travel Managing Director Devindre Senaratne and Andrew the Travel Company Ltd. Managing Director Maahen Kariyawasan urged for the abolition and justified the move claiming a wide range of benefits.

Sri Lanka Tourism last week revised down the 2016 arrival target to 2.2 million from 2.5 million. By the end of September tourist arrivals had reached over 1.5 million, an increase of 15% compared to 2015. As of August, earnings stood at $ 2.5 billion.

See Page 17 for leading travel agents views on the abolition of minimum room rates.