Sri Lanka Blasts: Short term impact on tourist arrivals from India; travel enquiries decline

According to data put out by the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Board, Indian tourist arrivals in Sri Lanka during 2018 stood at 4.25 lakh.

Sri Lankan military stand guard near the explosion site at a church in Batticaloa, Sri Lanka. (Reuters)

Following a series of blasts that rocked Sri Lanka on Sunday, travel operators in India have seen a significant hit to tourist enquiries for the island country — for which India is the top source market of international tourism. According to online travel portal ixigo, 41 per cent of bookings made for departures between April 21 and April 27 from various points in India to Sri Lanka have been cancelled.

However, travel experts expect the impact to be only short term and expect normalcy once the situation stabilises. Notably, as per latest available data for 2017, the grounded Jet Airways was the fifth-largest airline flying to Sri Lanka.

In what was the country’s worst terror attack, a series of devastating blasts tore through three churches and luxury hotels in Sri Lanka on Easter Sunday, killing 290 people and wounding 500 others, including eight Indians. India is the top source market of international tourists for Sri Lanka.

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According to data put out by the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Board, Indian tourist arrivals in Sri Lanka during 2018 stood at 4.25 lakh.

“About four lakh Indians visit Sri Lanka every year and this number has been growing over the past few years. These blasts will have a negative impact in the short term, but things should return to normal if things are peaceful going forward. As of now, we have not seen any immediate cancellations of people who have made bookings, but there has been a slowdown in the new enquiries and bookings that were in process. Airlines continue to operate as normal,” said Sharat Dhall, COO (B2C), Yatra.com.

After India, China, the United Kingdom and Germany are the biggest source markets for international tourist arrivals in Sri Lanka.

In 2017, Jet Airways was the fifth biggest international carrier to Sri Lanka after Sri Lankan Airlines, Emirates, Qatar Airways and Fly Dubai. During the year, it carried over 70,000 passengers from India. Other Indian airlines flying to

Sri Lanka include Air India, IndiGo and SpiceJet.

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Following cancellation of Jet Airways’ flights, its slots at Colombo airport have been reallocated and these carriers have announced new and additional flights from Delhi and Mumbai to Colombo.

“Sri Lanka has been a popular choice amongst Indian travellers seeking a quick International getaway, especially during long weekends. Our data shows Colombo was a top pick for travellers from cities like Bangalore, this Easter long weekend. Following the attacks, we have seen a 17 per cent dip in enquiring customers for the country. We anticipate current unrest in the region will lead to a temporary slowdown in tourist inflow to Sri Lanka,” said Aloke Bajpai, CEO and co-founder, ixigo.

According to ixigo, Chennai is the top Indian city for tourism to Sri Lanka with 32 per cent of the bookings, followed by Bengaluru at 16 per cent, New Delhi at 13 per cent, Madurai at 9 per cent, Mumbai at 7 per cent and Hyderabad at 5 per cent.