THASL Chief welcomes President’s remarks on possible debt moratorium extension

• Urges Govt. to think ‘out of the box’ as the crisis in tourism industry is unprecedented

The Hotels Association of Sri Lanka (THASL) President M. Shanthikumar yesterday welcomed the President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s remarks on a possible extension to the debt moratorium which the tourism industry has been repeatedly urging for.

“We commend Ranil Wickramasinghe for strongly giving consideration to the request to extend the moratorium  extended to the stakeholders for a further period. The SME sector in our industry is struggling to survive and this will give them an opportunity to sustain their business and service their guests,” Shanthikumar emphasised.

THASL requested the Government to think ‘out of the box’ as the crisis in the tourism industry is unprecedented. 

“Be it a financial model to ease the debt, marketing and promotions to increase growth or to come out of the gap we will face with us not having the required staff in the future due to large numbers now seeking jobs overseas and no proper strategy in place to address this, the Government will have to look at new ways to address these issues.

  All of these are unprecedented in the history of our industry and unless we think afresh, sustaining tourism will be a huge challenge,” Shanthikumar added.

THASL Chief said President Wickremesinghe has always understood the importance of tourism and its contribution to the growth of the economy and the community at large.

Shanthikumar noted that if the Sri Lanka Promotions Bureau strategically promotes Sri Lanka with an effective communication campaign during this juncture, tourism without doubt will generate quick foreign exchange returns which will assist the country and all of us in tourism.  He also recalled that a few years ago, Wickramasinghe granted tourism export status.

THASL said over 12% of the population are dependent on tourism with over 500,000 direct and indirect employment. The total investment in the tourism sector in Sri Lanka is over $ 20 billion and was the number one net foreign exchange contributor to the country in 2018. The devastating Easter Sunday attack in early 2019, the long closure of borders due to the pandemic and the political and economic crisis culminating in the Aragalaya directly impacted the industry thereafter.

Shanthikumar pointed out other holiday destinations such as the Maldives, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand are thriving in business and have gone beyond the pre-COVID levels in revenues.  

“Whilst rising costs in airfares and  increased cost of living in the tourism generating markets may have slowed the demand growth to a certain extent, the cause of the slow arrival growth to Sri Lanka cannot be attributed to this as competing destinations are thriving in business,” THASL Chief added.