Tourism industry still reeling from pandemic
The travel and tourism sector continues to wander in crisis mode as another leading travel firm just last month reduced staff by 40 per cent.
Unable to hold its head above water in the face of the pandemic the travel firm’s head said: “I had to do it with a heavy heart” adding that “I was compelled to do it to protect the business so that I can give back employment to the same staff when the situation improves”. Those were some of the “quality staff” that they had to retrench, he said.
A number of other travel and tourism companies are looking at reducing staff further with some already in the process of doing so and others planning on reviewing the situation by the end of the calendar year, it was noted.
Should organisations right-size, industry persons noted that it was likely that next year Sri Lanka could turnaround by attracting about 30-40 per cent of the number of tourists that arrived in 2018 (2019 was a bad year), compared to very low numbers expected in 2020.
Right sizing the organisations is required to ensure that they are able to turnaround when catering to a lower volume in 2021, they said.