Kandy Times

Visitors throng Kandy hotels despite uncertainty

Kandy Perahera: checkpoints an assurance, not annoyance...... ...but disappointing sales of gems, jewellery and handicrafts

Story and pictures by Priyeni de Silva McLeod

Even as the historic Kandy Perehera, the most eagerly awaited event in the hill country, concluded on August 10, hotels reported visitors to Kandy during this period were satisfactory in spite of the uncertain security situation.

Although feverish preparations went into this spectacular occasion, an all-encompassing atmosphere of pessimism pervaded the hill capital. Businessmen did not expect the usual turnover as ‘gloom’ prophets were predicting that visitors will be intimidated due to the present tense situation in the country. Only very few of the usual people who organize seating arrangements to view the Perehera took the initiative to do so this year as they were not confident of sales.

But Kumar Thambyah, General Manager of both Queen’s Hotel and Hotel Suisse said he was happy and satisfied with business at both hotels. They had between 70 -80% occupancy which was better than expected and no better or worse than 2005. He observed that there were many Sri Lankans who were foreign passport holders resident in his hotels. There was a notable increase in food and beverage too he commented.

One of the stalls

General Manager of Citadel Hotel Suraj Perera found the business situation very encouraging as there was no drop in occupancy from last year. The Citadel had a100% occupancy over the last six days and 90% occupancy over the last 10 days of which 99% were foreign tourists who had come to Sri Lanka to witness the Perehera. Perera praised the police and the security forces for the efficient manner in which they handled this period of the Perehera where thousands of people gathered in the hill capital over many days. Some of his guests had commented that they felt secure and were reassured of their safety by the tight security that prevailed. They had said that the many check points were not an annoyance but rather a reassurance.

Anura Basnayake, General Manager of Hotel Topaz was also satisfied with the occupancy of his hotel which recorded 100% occupancy over the Perehera season. Some 60% of their guests were foreign tourists and 40% were local visitors. Although the occupancy was the same as last year, he wondered whether adverse effects of the war situation in the country will be evident during the period October – December 2006. His opinion was that tour cancellations without much notice is not advantageous to the foreign traveler, especially those who travel with tour groups and as such they may have not cancelled their ‘already paid for’ vacation but they may be more cautious in the future.

Devon Hotel and the Devon Rest encountered adverse occupancy this year as compared with last year. Senaka Keppetipola, Manager of the Devon Hotel was disappointed that they had only 50% occupancy; all their guests were locals. The Front Office Manager of Devon Rest echoed similar statistics. They depend more on FITs rather than tour groups for their business and believed that independent travelers may have cancelled their trips to view the Perehera due to the war situation in the country.

Emil Perera, Resident Manager of Hotel Thilanka was satisfied that they experienced 100% occupancy over the weeks during the Perahera. Some 80% of their guests were foreigners. Although they had no cancellations of room reservations over the Perehera season he was not very confident about tourist arrivals in the near future. He feels that the recent claymore mine blast in Digana (which killed senior STF officer Upul Seneviratne) may have a direct impact on business.

General Manager, Kings Park Hotel Danthurai Bandara said they had 100% occupancy over the last five days and the occupancy was much better than in 2005. Some 50% of the guests were foreign tourists.

He was of the opinion that business would have been much better if not for the tense war situation in the country.

Cyril Perera, General Manager of Hotel Hill Top was disappointed with the occupancy of his hotel at the beginning of the Perehera season which was only 65 – 75%, much lower than last year but was relieved that they had 100% occupancy over the last four days.

He noted that only 50% of his foreign guests were in Sri Lanka to witness the Perehera but there were a large percentage of local guests who were in Kandy for the occasion.

Front Office Manager, Mahaweli Reach Hotel Chrishantha Damunupola when contacted stated that they had a 100% occupancy from 5th – 9th August, of which 75% were foreign tourists here in Sri Lanka especially for the Perehera.

He noted however that there were no Japanese visitors this year and local guests in the hotel were far less than in 2005.

The Mahaweli Reach organizes seating to view the Perehera and Damunupola observed that they had sold 260 tickets this season as against 90 tickets last year.

There were only a few private individuals involved in seating arrangements to view the Perehera this season as there was an atmosphere of pessimism and the usual large numbers of spectators were not expected.

Mahaweli Reach also provides courtesy transport to their guests to view the Perehera and unlike other times the vehicles were not permitted to go right upto the venue; the guests were required to walk some distance to their seats but they did not complain because they understood that tight security measures were necessary to ensure their safety.

The National Chamber of Handicrafts of Sri Lanka organized a trade fair and exhibition to provide exposure and boost sales of cottage industries for the third time in Kandy during the August 5-10 at the Queen’s Hotel to coincide with the Kandy Perehera but sales were poor.

The chamber’s Chief Executive Officer A C Nawagamuwa said the event was organized especially for the benefit of its members. The chamber has approximately 200 members from around the country - Kandy, Kegalle, Nuwara Eliya, Matale and even a few from down south.

He said there was a notable drop in sales compared to previous years and sales over the six days totaled only Rs. 600,000. Last year’s sales were much more and as a group the stall holders earned about Rs 150,000 per day but this time around there were less visitors, especially from foreign countries. “This may be due to the tension in the country,” Nawagamuwa said.

The National Chamber of Handicrafts of Sri Lanka is based in Kandy and affiliated to the Federation of the Chambers of Commerce and Industry of Sri Lanka. The Chamber of Handicrafts organizes many events to provide exposure to its members involved in cottage industries. It participated in trade fairs in January 2006 in Los Angeles, USA and in February 2005 in Frankfurt, Germany where each member was entitled to send two items of their best product. In all such events the Chambers charges its members only 20% of the value of their sales to meet expenses.

There were sixty stalls at the Queens Hotel and the area seemed congested. Nawagamuwa says, “Our members can offer lower prices than shops at such events as they have no overhead expenses to meet. Moreover foreign visitors are at an advantage to purchase from us as they are not subject to commissions.

All goods on display are price marked and the prices charged have been approved by the chambers”.

The Chamber was honoured to have Minister Rohitha Bogollagama to open the trade fair and they hope to make this an annual event.

What the stall holders told The Kandy Times:

They were all extremely disappointed with the sales and the income they earned over the six day period of the trade fair. It was their collective opinion that the Chamber of Handicrafts had paid attention to every detail when organizing the event and they appreciated very much the opportunities the Chambers offered them. However they felt that the strict security imposed in Kandy was the reason that very few people visited the venue of the trade fair.

A batik stall holder lamented that she had earned only Rs 11,000 over six days; she personally manned her stall and therefore could not carry on her usual work. As a result she had been unable to complete an order that was pending. Last year she had earned Rs 50,000 over four days.

Another stall holder who had exquisite hand embroidered products for sale had earned only Rs 7,000 over the entire period.

She was convinced that more publicity about the event would have helped.

“Even handbills distributed in town would have drawn crowds, people did not walk about much due to security checks and many did not walk around the Queen’s Hotel.”

A gem and jewellery stall holder said that time spent at the stall was a complete waste as he had earned only about Rs 5,000.

He explained that a very small profit margin is kept and as such that they depended on a high turnover at such events to make the venture viable.

Another issue raised was that the display area was not sufficient to display products like table cloths to their fullest advantage; each stall consisted of one table and some tables were in corners that were hardly accessible to customers.

Stallholders also said that there wasn’t enough publicity in the media about the exhibition to draw crowds that were in Kandy during this time. Most of the visitors to the trade fair were guests of the Queen’s Hotel.

Back to Kandy Times