{"id":5611,"date":"2023-12-20T19:17:43","date_gmt":"2023-12-20T13:47:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/asia.businessupturn.com\/?p=5611"},"modified":"2023-12-20T19:17:43","modified_gmt":"2023-12-20T13:47:43","slug":"sri-lankas-tourism-sees-revival-amidst-challenges","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/asia\/south-asia\/sri-lanka\/sri-lankas-tourism-sees-revival-amidst-challenges\/5611\/","title":{"rendered":"Sri Lanka\u2019s tourism sees revival amidst challenges"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Sri Lanka welcomed over 1.3 million tourists by the second week of December 2023, a significant rebound after a four-year struggle. November alone witnessed a surge of 150,000 visitors, the highest monthly tally since March 2020. The newfound trust in Sri Lanka as a tourist destination is attributed to a strategic promotional campaign and geopolitical dynamics that favour the nation.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Indian tourists dominate the arrivals, with a concerted effort from India\u2019s tourism sector to promote Sri Lanka earlier in the year. Additionally, the Russian conflict in Ukraine redirected Russian tourists to Sri Lanka, offering a sanctuary when many nations closed their doors.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">While the increased footfall is encouraging, industry insiders emphasize the need to attract high-spending tourists to bolster economic recovery. President Ranil Wickremesinghe urges the sector to enhance its offerings for high-end travellers.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Suranga Silva, a tourism economics professor, suggests leveraging Sri Lanka\u2019s uninhabited islands for exclusive, high-end tourism. Research identifies 87 such islands, presenting an opportunity for development into luxury resorts, bird sanctuaries, and scenic attractions.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">However, challenges loom as Sri Lanka grapples with taxation issues. The government\u2019s decision to lift the value-added tax (VAT) exemption for tourism operators in January 2024 raises concerns among businesses. The recent parliamentary vote to increase VAT from 15 to 18 per cent adds to the worries of an already burdened sector.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Rohan Abeywickrama, president of the Association of Small and Medium Enterprises in Tourism, stresses the importance of protecting the industry from excessive taxes to maintain competitiveness. The sector also seeks relief from mounting debts and challenges posed by increased utility tariffs.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The ban on vehicle imports since early 2020 compounds the challenges for tour operators and safari drivers, dealing with an ageing vehicle fleet. The mass migration of skilled workers further exacerbates the situation, posing a threat to the quality of services in the tourism sector.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Despite these obstacles, the Sri Lankan tourism authority remains optimistic, targeting 2.3 million tourist arrivals and $4.6 billion in revenue for the coming year. A global marketing campaign, free tourist visas for select countries, and collaborations with influencers aim to bolster the recovery.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Suranga Silva, a tourism economics professor, suggests leveraging Sri Lanka\u2019s uninhabited islands for exclusive, high-end tourism. Research identifies 87 such islands, presenting an opportunity for development into luxury resorts, bird sanctuaries, and scenic attractions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":429,"featured_media":5612,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[625,3745,362,3744,519],"class_list":["post-5611","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sri-lanka","tag-islands","tag-msme","tag-sri-lanka","tag-sri-lankan-tourism","tag-tourism"],"reading_time":"2 min read","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5611","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/429"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5611"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5611\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5612"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5611"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5611"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5611"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}