SL loses Russian charters to competitors this summer

Sri Lanka’s tourism industry faces a setback this summer as it is losing Russian charters to competitors. The decline comes amid escalating landing charges at Mattala International Airport (MRIA) and a significant rise in hotel rates, driven by minimum room rate policies among Colombo City hotels.

According to Hotels Association of Sri Lanka (THASL) former Vice President and Sri Lanka Tourism Promotions Bureau former Director Angeline Ondaatje, Russian charters including 412-seater twice a week flight operated by Redwing has decided to drop Mattala from its summer flight operations. 

“Last year, we had charters that came from Russia throughout the summer. But, this year, some of the hoteliers got together and agreed on an informal price increase and as a result some hotels increased their prices over 100 percent,” she said. 
Instead of flying to Sri Lanka, Ondaatje noted that these charters are now flying to more easily accessible and price competitive destinations such as Turkey and Thailand. 

“I spoke to some of the charters, to find out why they clearly told me that it was financially viable last year, but not this year. Since the government has increased landing charges at Mattala Airport and certain hotels increased their room rates from US$ 65 to over US$ 100, it isn’t financially viable. These charters are either operating to turkey or to Thailand,” she elaborated. 

Russian Charter Red Wings brought the first set of tourists to the island nation on 29 December 2022 since the worsening of the economic and political crisis in May that year. In particular, Ondaatje noted that hoteliers in down south and east (Pasikuda) have increased prices collectively and excessively. 

“People think that just increasing their price is a marketing tool. It is not. If you want to sell a hotel, it has to be competitive, within the region, within the country as well within the whole of South East Asia,” she stressed. 
After a drop in occupancy levels, Ondaatje noted that these hotels are now offering discounts.

She stressed that both stakeholders and authorities need to maintain a dynamic pricing model which is competitive in the region. 
“Nothing happens automatically, everything matters, ease of visa, visa fee etc. We now face the risk of having less business this winter,” she added. 
(NF)