The tourist industry in the southern coastal belt of Hikkaduwa is heading for a crisis and cash-strapped hoteliers are begging the government for an urgent bailout with many being unable to meet even the staff salaries as business has hit an all-time low during this usual peak season.
“Around this time in the past years there was at least 80 to 85 per cent occupancy in the hotels, but this season we are experiencing something like 25 per cent or even less”, Hikkaduwa Hoteliers Association president Siri Gunawardene told The Sunday Times.“December is always considered the peak period for arrivals, also known as the “Winter Packages” for tourist arrivals mainly from Western Europe and Scandinavian countries. But this time we have to depend on the trickle of locals just to keep our lights burning,” he said.
He heaped blame on the Tourist Board in particular for what he termed their don’t care attitude towards the disturbing trend in the industry and if something is not done quickly thousands of workers would have to be laid off.
He added that banks had stopped issuing overdrafts but were insisting that hotel operators pay back the monies already taken, and repeated appeals to the government for a bailout has simply fallen on deaf ears.
Noone seems interested in the plight of the Hikkaduwa hospitality industry which not long ago was described as the tourism hub in the South and one that had earned a reputation in several foreign capitals.
In addition to the present woes the red tape involved in the officialdom was making it difficult to obtain the simple renewal of a bar license, Mr. Gunawardene complained.Director of Tourism Development Authority Hiran Cooray said he was aware of the grave situation facing the industry in Hikkaduwa, but there was very little they could do unless the government stepped in to help.
At present there are some 300,000 people working directly, or linked by other means with the industry and an estimated 30 percent is centred around the Hikkaduwa region, he said.
As an immediate measure the government must offer the industry soft loans so that staff salaries could be met if the industry is to be kept afloat, Mr. Cooray said.
He said much of the industry faced a similar crisis in the late 1980s during the height of the JVP problems but nonetheless managed to stay afloat as the government at that time offered soft loans to hotel operators.
Deputy Tourism Minister Faizer Musthapha blamed the current global recession for the drop in tourist arrivals saying that people all over the world were giving less priority to vacations and holidays in their personal budgets.
Earlier it was only the north east conflict that had an adverse impact on the local tourism industry but now the global crisis is also adding to the problem on a higher scale, he said.
He added, however, that the Board was making every effort to promote local packages to the South, adding that a cash bail out was not possible right now owing to the present situation facing the country.
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