Tourism and COVID-19

Tuesday, 29 December 2020 01:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Over the past decade tourism has become a mainstay for Sri Lanka’s economy, earning much-needed foreign exchange, attracting investment and emerging as a job spinner with the capacity to take development to the grassroots level.

Therefore, the slump experienced by the sector, which was first hit by the Easter Sunday attacks and this year by COVID-19, has been one of the most difficult to bear. In this backdrop the pilot project launched by the Government to bring in an estimated 3,000 tourists from Ukraine will be monitored with much interest.

One of the key aspects of the pilot project will be in seeing whether the travel bubble policymakers are attempting to create will in fact be successful. With total COVID-19 cases in Sri Lanka passing the 41,000 mark over the weekend and a new strain of the virus lurking just beyond the country’s shores, there are very real concerns about the impact reopening borders could have.

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has already directed arrivals from the UK be suspended but fresh reports indicate that the new strain has already found its way to South Korea, prompting the Government in that country to double down on its vaccine efforts in an effort to control the spread. Sri Lanka’s vaccine efforts are still in their infancy and there is no clear indication yet of when inoculation may begin.

This means that the Government will have to continue implementing strict social distancing guidelines and other healthcare measures to keep case numbers under control. An effort that may already have been undermined by allowing free travel outside of the Western Province during the festive period.

Fresh warnings are coming from Public Health Inspectors (PHIs) and the Government Medical Officers Association (GMOA) of new clusters emerging around the country. A spike in active cases in the New Year could seriously impact the much-needed growth turnaround the Government has been targeting with a series of fresh measures, including the Budget.

Over 27,000 patients have been detected from the Western Province alone, which is cause for concern as the bulk of economic activities are concentrated within this region.

The Government has so far ruled out a complete reopening of borders but it needs to keep the larger tourism industry and its stakeholders appraised of decisions it is taking so that the sector is not in the dark about its prospects.

Thailand is tentatively resuscitating its tourism industry with 3,065 tourists arriving in November, the second such instalment since it closed airports in April. But the country is struggling with a new breakout that has infected over a thousand people and the State planning agency is predicting only 5 million arrivals for 2021, a fraction of the 40 million tourists that visited the country in 2019.

Obviously Sri Lanka operates at a much smaller scale but it underscores the challenges both the Government and the industry will continue to face next year. Engaging with the larger industry consistently and transparently as well as creating a level playing field will be crucial to navigating the myriad of difficulties created by COVID-19.

This will have to be an effort that spans many more months, possibly into 2022, and sustainability will need to be inbuilt into communication and policymaking channels for the industry as well as the public at large.