Tourists defer trips to Sri Lanka as island crisis boils over

CHENNAI: Tourists have started to cancel or postpone trips for the week to Sri Lanka, with the island nation declaring an emergency on Monday after riots in Kandy.
The cancellations, sources said, began even though Indians already in that country have not started to rush back home. Those in Kandy, in the centre of the country, however, are heading to it capital, Colombo.


Several tourists, including couples and groups, cancelled trips starting on Wednesday and Thursday, Basheer Ahmed of Metro Travels said. “There have been enquiries for cancellations,” he said on Wednesday. “We have asked customers to postpone their travel dates. Tourists scheduled to travel to Sri Lanka in the next two or three days have been hit.”

Traders and business travellers flew to Colombo but not leisure travellers, he said.

Travel and tour operators, who are monitoring the situation in Sri Lanka closely, have advised people not to cancel trips if they are scheduled for next week or later.

“We are in touch with all our customers who are at their destinations,” said Sharat Dhall, COO (B2C) Yatra.com. “We’re also speaking to others who have bookings for Sri Lanka and keeping them posted about the situation.”

We have not seen setback to major tourist spots in Sri Lanka, he said, adding that feedback indicated that it’s unlikely that there will be significant impact going forward. Yatra would help customers to cancel or postpone travel plans and make other arrangements, Dhall said.

Sri Lanka is a popular destination for Indians and several tourists travel every day from Chennai. These include millenials, couples, families and pilgrims. Colombo, Kadirgamam and Kandy are areas popular with tourists.

Sri Lanka received around 3.8 lakh tourist arrivals from India in 2017, creating a new record. Colombohas set a target of 4.4 lakh Indian arrivals this year. A survey by Sri Lanka Tourism showed that 63.7% of Indians opt for sightseeing excursions and 49.82% for shopping; 37.01% of Indian tourists look to visit historical sites.