Sri Lankans seek out warmer weather not cold hills this season
The Nuwara Eliya season has kicked off but notably Sri Lankans holidaying in the hotels have dropped by about 40 per cent since the past two years. However, credit card offers and new hotels have been the real crowd puller during this season across the cuntry.
It was pointed out that most Sri Lankans would be now widespread across the regions during the New Year holiday season without simply heading to the cooler climes of Nuwara Eliya, Grand Hotel General Manager Palaka Perera said in an interview with the Business Times.
He explained that this trend was observed since 2012 when they noticed a drop in the number of Sri Lankan holidaymakers staying at hotels in Nuwara Eliya.
With Sri Lankans today having more options and locations to travel to Nuwara Eliya is “not great as it used to be in the past,” he said adding that they noticed a drop of about 40 per cent in occupancies during this season compared to previous years.
Occupancies would be very high of about 95 per cent from April 13-15 including the foreign travellers after which there would be a 60 per cent occupancy, he noted.
Mr. Perera said the ratio for travellers were 65 per cent Sri Lankans and 35 per cent foreigners adding that however, there were a number of activities being organised including a Jet Ski competition by the Sri Lanka Navy to enthral visitors.
Kandy has seen an upsurge in demand from both Sri Lankans as well as the Middle Eastern and Indian travellers that were visiting during the mainly off-season from April to June, Kandy Hoteliers Association President Samantha Ratnayaka said.
He noted that most Sri Lankans were holidaying in line with the credit card offers with most eager to spend more and would even pay for the extras.
Currently, the occupancies in Kandy were looking at around 70 per cent with most preferring to stay in hotels for rest and relaxation with a minimum of two day stays, Mr. Ratnayaka explained.
The Cultural Triangle Hoteliers Association representative in Colombo Herman Gonzales said the holiday season had picked up very well with about 50 per cent of occupancies joining the card promotions in the cultural triangle.
Both diplomatic and expatriate Sri Lankan communities would be patronising these hotels, he explained. Most Sri Lankans were today concerned of the rate and quality of the food wherever they stay in addition to wanting to spend their holiday at the newest hotel that had opened up, Mr. Gonzales observed. Negombo Hoteliers Association President Neville Rogers said in an interview that they had observed a drop in occupancies from the foreign traveller market.
However, with a rate drop most hotels hoped to attract the Sri Lankan holidaymakers that would bring about a 60 per cent occupancy for those wanting to soak in the sun and sand on the beach.
Colombo City Hoteliers Association President M. Shanthikumar said they were down by about 20 per cent in occupancies and it was expected to pick up after April 18. He noted that most corporate clients would not travel to Colombo during the holiday period.