Sri Lanka fears its tourism industry might take huge blow up to 30 percent, with an estimated loss of over 1.5 billion dollars, in the aftermath of the deadly Easter attacks, reported AFP.
“Tourism will be the worst affected,” Sri Lankan Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera said on Friday, 26 April, adding that 30 percent drop in arrivals would result in a loss of about 1.5 billion dollars in foreign exchange.
Samaraveera said that the country could take up to two years to fully recover from the attacks.
“Typically, countries that suffer isolated IS-style attacks see tourism recovering within one-to-two years, as long as root causes are addressed and security measures taken are well communicated," the minister said, according to AFP.
‘Hopes of $5 Bn Revenue Shattered’
The country which was on the road to recovery from the 37-year Tamil separatist war, has shattered the hopes of reaching a revenue of 5 billion dollars, up from the previous year's 4.4 billion dollars, Samaraveera said.
Several tourist operators have already begun to experience the effects of what appears to be reduced demand as well as the cancellation of forthcoming trips by tourists.
According to data from the World Travel and Tourism Council, tourism and services activity accounts for 12.5 percent of the gross domestic product of Sri Lanka with a population of a little over 20 million, and provides employment to more than 1 million people, according to IANS.
As most of the luxury hotels in Colombo have curtailed bookings amid fears of more attacks, Samaraveera said, a package of concessions might help the tourism sector get back on its feet.
Earlier in the day, Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena confirmed that wanted Sri Lanka radical cleric Zaharan Hashim died in hotel attack, reported AFP. He also said that the police chief resigned after the serial blasts.
The country’s Defence Secretary Hemasiri Fernando resigned over his failure to prevent the Easter terror attacks even as the health ministry on Thursday, 25 April, night sharply revised the death toll downward to 253, saying the previous figure of 359 was due to a "calculation error".
Nine suicide bombers, believed to be members of local Islamist extremist group called National Thowheed Jamath (NTJ), carried out a series of devastating blasts that tore through three churches and three luxury hotels.
(With inputs from AFP and IANS.)
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