Russia-Ukraine conflict seen as biggest short-term impediment for SL tourism

• Says travel industry faced with another shock and uncertainty 
• Cautions Ukraine invasion will result in serious implications for SL
• Lists out four key factors that could impact SL tourism
• However, March arrivals thus far show an optimistic trend, SLTDA points out

The local tourism should brace itself to face a major impediment in relation to outbound travel and prolonged absence of tourists, especially from Russia and Ukraine, due to the ongoing conflict between the two countries.
The Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA) said that the travel industry that has gradually started to recover anticipating a boom after the pandemic is again faced with another shock and uncertainty, with the crisis in Ukraine. 

“This will result in serious implications for destinations including Sri Lanka that heavily rely on Eastern European markets for their inbound tourism. 

Russians and Ukrainians are known and valued for their resilient nature in terms of travel behaviour and longer duration of stay,” the SLTDA said in its latest tourist arrivals report that was released this week. 

In 2019, Russian travellers took more than 40 million international outbound trips, becoming one of the fastest growing outbound markets. They were also the sixth highest international visitor spending market.

As voiced by several major travel agents in Sri Lanka, they are already getting cancellations from Russian tourists and no new bookings had been received. 

The authority listed out four factors that have been identified as major impediment, which are the devaluation of the rouble, which has plunged by 30 percent against the US dollar, which will greatly crimp the spending power of Russian travellers, the impact of declared sanctions against Russia and the adverse impact on the economy, the removal of Russia’s central bank and other Russian banks from the SWIFT global payments system and disrupted flights.

In 2018, the expenditure per day (non-package, excluding air fare) of a Russian tourist in Sri Lanka was about US $ 162.94 while an expenditure per day of US $ 164.24 was recorded for an average Ukrainian tourist.

According to Forwardkeys, prior to the invasion, Russian outbound flight bookings for March to May 2022 had recovered to 32 percent of pre-pandemic levels, with some holiday hotspots doing exceptionally well. 
Sri Lanka had occupied the 10th position (with a share of 7 percent) among the top 20 most booked destinations by Russians for the period of March to May 2022. 

Russian tourist arrivals recorded for the year 2020 and 2021 are 49,397 and 16,894, respectively while 17,169 and 7,037 Ukrainian tourist arrivals had been recorded for the consecutive years of 2020 and 2021. 

The growth momentum continued to 2022, with 28,818 total Russian arrivals and 13,062 Ukrainian arrivals recorded from January 1 to February 28, exceeding the pre-pandemic levels. 

The SLTDA stressed that given the importance of especially the Russian market, the implications of this crisis would be far reaching for Sri Lanka tourism, likely for a prolonged period of time. 

From last week, several major travel agents in Sri Lanka shared they were already getting cancellations from Russian tourists and no new bookings had been received. 

However, tourist arrivals from Russia throughout the month of February till the first week of March show an optimistic trend. It reveals that Russians still continue to travel to Sri Lanka. 

The SLTDA said it could be assumed that these are pre-booked visits, given the current situation of the crisis
With the current air accessibility between Russia and Sri Lanka and other favourable factors, Sri Lanka will remain as a favourite destination for Russians though the numbers will definitely decline, the report highlighted.