Russia, Ukraine crisis hits SL visitor arrivals
Hoteliers are expecting a good winter season with increased arrivals this year but this is likely to be dampened by a drop in Russian and Ukrainian travellers.
“We are concerned about the situation in Russia and Ukraine because the Russian Rouble is depreciating and destinations that operate in dollars might go to short haul locations,” Aitken Spence Travels MD Nalin Jayasundera told the Business Times.
He noted that the situation has aggravated further since Russian tour operators like Labirint and Solvex-Tourne have gone bankrupt.
According to foreign news agency reports the situation had arisen following the conflict in Ukraine that led to a slide in bookings for overseas trips leaving more than 50,000 Russians stranded overseas.
Unofficial data released by the Russian tourism authority had said in the agency report that the number of Russians travelling abroad dropped between 15-30 per cent, depending on destination, and the number of foreign tourists visiting Russia was down by as much as a fifth from last year.
In Sri Lanka, Russian travellers increased by 69 per cent to 44, 627 for January – August this year from the same 2013 period while Ukraine was down by 7 per cent to 20, 294 in the same period, according to the latest statistics released by the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority.
Mr. Jayasundera said Russian travellers usually tour the country during the winter season commencing from November to January and would holiday along the coastal belt for a minimum of a week patronising the 3 to 5 star hotel category