Tourism sector to face another setback with Ukraine crisis

Ukrainian tourists staged an anti-war protest outside Russian embassy in Sri Lanka last week and the country’s tourism minister said the government would consider visa extensions for visitors from Ukraine. It is estimated that about 4,000 Ukrainian tourists are currently in Sri Lanka (Reuters photo)

• Industry says while level of impact is unknown, an impact is definite
• Calls for need to explore new markets to fill upcoming gap in arrivals 
• Tourism Minister looks to extend visa validity of Ukrainian tourists 

By Shabiya Ali Ahlam
Sri Lanka’s reviving tourism industry is likely to hit another stumbling block, due to the ongoing invasion of Ukraine by Russia. The conflict will have direct implications on the number of tourist arrivals into the island nation. 

The Russian Federation emerged as Sri Lanka’s largest traffic generator and the top market for Sri Lanka Tourism for the month of January, a position it had secured for the last couple of months. This position could weaken in the coming days, due to the lack of predictability of the conflict that is taking place.  

Ranking first as the top source market for Sri Lanka Tourism, in January alone, Russia accounted for 16 percent of the total arrivals to the island nation. Ukraine accounted for 11 percent. 

Tourism industry stakeholders told Mirror Business that while it is premature to state the level of impact the Russia-Ukraine conflict will have on the number of arrivals in Sri Lanka, a negative impact is inevitable.  

Last week, Ukraine closed its airspace to civilian flights after Russia initiated military action in the country. Similarly, several countries have closed their airspace to Russian airlines after its attack in Ukraine. The number of tourists travelling out of Russia too has dropped in fear of being unable to return home in case of closure of borders and airspace.  

“Arrivals from Ukraine have completely stopped, due to the closure of its airspace. 

Russia, although the airspace is open, those leaving the country for leisure and tourism are very less due to obvious reasons.  

We are unsure of the impact yet since we do not know if this will end in the coming days, weeks or even months. However, since they (Russian Federation) have been a major market for Sri Lanka Tourism, we will certainly witness a hit. The scale is too premature to comment,” said Mahen Kariawasam, commenting on behalf of the Sri Lanka Association of Inbound Tour Operators (SLAITO) and One Industry One Voice.  

Commenting on the impact, The Hotels Association of Sri Lanka (THASL) President M. Shantikumar said efforts must be taken by Sri Lanka Tourism to diversify its target markets.  

“The Ukraine conflict will be detrimental for tourism and lead to zero arrivals from these markets for a while; however as an industry, we need to alternate markets to fill the gap,” said Shantikumar.  
At present, there are about 11,500 Russian tourists in the country and 4,000 Ukrainian tourists. 
The Tourism Ministry yesterday announced that efforts are underway to extend the visa validity of Ukrainian tourists, as they are unable to return home. 

While discussions are already being held by the Foreign Affairs Ministry and Immigration and Emigration Department, the proposal to extend visa validity was tabled by Tourism Minister Prasanna Ranatunga in Parliament yesterday.