The global tourism standstill due to Covid-19 has caused the tourism industry to nearly disappear into thin air, and for small island nations such as ourselves, it has cost dearly.
In an effort to revive a vital industry on which our economy is so reliant, following the nine-month long travel ban, on 28 December, our Government launched a pilot project to test the waters.
Under the pilot project, nearly 3,000 tourists from Ukraine were set to visit the country, coming in batches in a series of charter flights, before the country opens fully for commercial travellers.
Despite the Ukrainians having travelled in a bio-bubble, with limited contact with the local community to avoid Covid-19 infections, five of them who arrived on the first flight had tested positive for Covid-19, and have since been transferred for treatment at General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University (KDU) Hospital.
It would seem that the project has since gone awry, with Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA) Chairperson Kimarli Fernando, in a letter to the Tourism Minister, pointing out that travel agents refrained from sharing the necessary information with the SLTDA with regard to the itinerary of the tourists from Ukraine, despite requests made.
In a special discussion held on 4 January, Tourism Minister Prasanna Ranatunga had instructed authorities to take immediate action to prevent a recurrence of the situation that has arisen.
The Minister also pointed out that so far, 12 special attractions have been identified for tourists visiting the island after a PCR test confirms that they are not infected with Covid-19. These include the Temple of the Tooth Relic, Yala National Park, Minneriya National Park, Sigiriya, Dambulla Temple, Udawalawe National Park, Horton Plains, Sinharaja Forest Reserve, Peradeniya Botanical Gardens, Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage, whale watching spots, and Salusala. However, the Central Cultural Fund announced that the tours scheduled to Polonnaruwa and Sigiriya have since been cancelled after the Yala National Park incident.
Since these events have transpired, we looked into how the public is reacting to the current state of things, particularly where their concerns lie with regards to the race to revive the tourism industry, with a few key concerns taking front and centre.
Firstly, a majority of the people we spoke to believed that this wasn’t rushed at all, and that we are in fact behind in running these pilot projects and test runs.
Speaking to a travel agent in Negombo, who books travels through their agency “Kingfisher Tours”, they shared that to their understanding, other countries have been making greater efforts to revive their industries in smaller bite-sizes, far earlier than this.
The travel agent also referred to the concentrated efforts by countries like Greece, which presented a “White Paper on Recommendations for Restarting Tourism”, on behalf of the United Nations World Tourism Organisation’s (UNWTO) European Covid-19 Task Force and also Spain introducing its “Guidelines for Reducing Coronavirus Infection in the Tourism Industry”, both of which were done in early 2020.
Lankan authorities also appear to be on this same track in their attempt to revive the tourism industry – the Sri Lanka Association of Inbound Tour Operators (SLAITO) has extended their support to the return of tourism, despite the move triggering three Covid-19-positive cases. SLAITO Chairman Thilak Weerasinghe, speaking to The Sunday Morning Brunch, said: “When opening for tourism, we have to be prepared to handle such situations. So long as the necessary guidelines are in place and followed, it’s unlikely this can reach society.”
Europeans aren’t the only ones making moves to revive their respective tourism industries. Indonesia’s recently appointed Tourism and Creative Economy Minister Sandiaga Salahuddin Uno had pledged to focus on reviving the pandemic-stricken tourism industry in 2020 as well, noting also the statistics that show that foreign tourist arrivals in Indonesia have picked up slightly in October, and will continue.
People who are all for the revival of tourism are unsurprisingly those who are part of the industry, with yet another travel agent saying that Sri Lanka is not the only country having these issues; whatever countries that are open to tourism are managing accordingly. It’s a situation where we have to strike a balance between managing the economy and controlling the Covid situation.
It would seem that this is in fact the story about moving into the “new normal”. However, the second loudest voice amongst the members of the public we spoke to, proved to be those who wondered whether it is the priority right now.
Some members of the general public, whom we cannot declare irrelevant simply because they are not directly involved in tourism, have expressed their interest in an action plan prioritising health, so as to not risk another outbreak.
Attorney-at-Law Niveda Hariharan shared that in the recent past, since there has been a recognisable and renewed commitment to sustainable tourism and creative ways to globetrot, is it not possible to look at alternate ways in working towards the revival of the tourism industry.
She shared: “Where there is a large section of citizens who are deeply concerned by the effects of this pilot project and also the eventual lifting of the ban on air travel by the end of January, there is a responsibility on the authorities to take those concerns into consideration.”
While it is a valid concern that if an overwhelming majority of the country’s population are troubled by a certain move, then transparency should be exercised by the authorities in putting their actions into perspective, in doing so, Tourism Minister Ranatunga said the local response to the pilot project has been positive, adding: “We kicked-off this pilot programme last week and we have already had a good response from tourists and the people who work in the tourism industry, as most of the drivers and the tourist guides have also given their support.”
He said that this breach that we are currently experiencing has been addressed, and that they are ready to move forward, adding also that this is not the time to place blame. “We accept that there were shortcomings. But what we should do now is not point fingers at anyone. We can’t keep the tourism industry closed forever. We must fix the wrongs and move forward,” said the Minister.
The pilot project is set to end on 19 January, and the Government plans to bring in over 2,500 tourists under the project from Russia, Ukraine, and other countries in the region.
The Covid-19 crisis has highlighted the global importance of the travel and tourism industry economically, and most importantly, the interconnectedness of the tourism sector with other industries. The effects of the pandemic such as border restrictions, lockdowns, and social distancing have affected everyone in the industry, from small tour operators to international hotel chains.
Therefore, much like what the Tourism Minister has expressed, we may have to set aside some of our fear to make adjustments for the future, in learning to live with the pandemic, much like those whom are opting to travel despite having to undergo multiple PCR tests and endure 14-day quarantine – they have chosen to take back an element of normalcy, in learning to live our lives in the new normal.