Sri Lanka’s tourism industry is now on the way towards its recovery after setbacks suffered due to this year’s economic and political crisis, alongside protest campaigns that ousted President Gotabaya Rajapaksa.

Sri Lanka’s tourism sector plays a significant role in the island nation’s economy, making up 12 percent of the nation’s gross domestic product.

 Tourism is also Sri Lanka’s third-largest source of foreign exchange, providing much-needed revenue for the government. Tourism brings employment opportunities, adding thousands of direct and indirect jobs to the Sri Lankan economy.

Ministry of Tourism sources disclosed that the current regime has earned over US $1 billion in foreign exchange from tourism receipts since taking office in late July.

The ministry estimates that by December 2022, Sri Lanka will have taken in approximately $1.7 billion.

Nearing the tourist traffic target of 800,000 this year, the tourist arrivals to Sri Lanka for the first two weeks have crossed the 30,000 mark, bringing the total number of international visitors entering the country to 658,210.

Sri Lanka aims to end the year with a target of having attracted 800,000 international visitors.

To realise the target, the destination needs to lure at least 141,790 tourists in the next two weeks, which means the daily arrival average needs to leap to 8,370.

The provisional data released by the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority show that for the December 01 to 13 period, the island nation welcomed 30,193 tourists.

The daily arrival average for the month of December so far is 2,322.  The weekly analysis shows that for the first week of December (01-07), 16,169 tourists entered the country, whereas in the second week so far (08-13), a total of 14,024 visitors have been welcomed.

The largest tourist traffic generator for December so far has been the Russian Federation, bringing in 21 percent of the total tourist arrivals.

Ranking second is India, accounting for 18 percent of the arrivals and in the third position is the United Kingdom, contributing to 9 percent of the total tourist traffic. The other notable markets include Australia, Germany and the United States.

Another super luxury passenger ship “Ocean Odyssey ” carrying 108 of America’s richest tourists arrived at the Colombo Port today making it the fourth luxury cruise anchored within around a month from the arrival of the first such cruise liner signaling the revival of the country’s hospitality industry.

The Tourism Ministry is planning to promote nautical tourism and the luxury passenger cruise ship arrivals harnessing the potential in the economic Development of Sri Lanka.

All ingredients already provided by nature, it is time, Sri Lanka to take a special interest in emphasizing that Sri Lanka really concentrates on developing Nautical Tourism as a special niche in its new phase of Tourism Development”.

The Tourism Ministry also explores the possibility of partnering top blue-chip companies to enter the lucrative 40 billion dollar cruise line business that is estimated to carry 22.3 million passengers, with the market growing at 3.2% in volume.

This “Ocean Odyssey” ship belongs to an American company. The ship is 105 meters long and 18.5 meters wide.

This ship arrived at the Colombo port from Cochin port in India and is scheduled to sail to Trincomalee port on December 19 (Today). 

The shipping agent company “Dave Marine” said that the tourists who came on this ship will disembark at Colombo port and travel around Colombo, Kurunegala Habarana, Sigiriya and Trincomalee by luxury buses for about two and a half days and board the ship from Trincomalee port on December 21.

Then the ship is scheduled to sail from Trincomalee Port to Thailand on December 21 at 7:00 PM. 

Luxury cruise ship, Azamara Quest arrived at the Colombo Port on December 03 carrying more than 600 passengers, mainly from the US the third luxury cruise with in 16 days  from the arrival of the first such cruise liner.

The previous luxury cruise ship Mein Schiff 5 carrying 2,000 visitors docked in Sri Lanka on Tuesday 29 November reviving tourism prospects on the island battered by the long-term effects of coronavirus lockdowns and months of political instability along with the economic crisis this year.

This Mein Schiff 5 arrived in Colombo five days ago after luxury cruise liner Viking Mars docked at the Colombo Port  on November 18., Tourism Minister Harin Fernando said that it was “heart-warming” to see the luxury cruise in Colombo.

“Having a cruise ship in the country is similar to having 10 aircraft full of tourists,” the minister said.

Norwegian luxury passenger cruise ship Viking Mars, the first cruise liner   arrived on the island with some 1,000 people on board 35 days ago. The minister said luxury cruise liners began to operate on the island after a six-month hiatus.

A person was killed by gunfire at Hanwella last (18) night.

The victim, 48 and a father of three children, is a businessman who ran a hotel at Hanwella Crossing.

The shooting follows a series of events, where two people arrived at the hotel in a motorcycle at about 10 pm last night, and one person, who knocked on the door, asked for a cigarette, while the other barged in opening the door and shot the owner, who was at the counter at the time, four times on the chest.

The hotel owner who was injured by the shooting was admitted to Panadura Hospital but was already pronounced dead prior to being admitted.

Hanwella Police are conducting further investigations.

MIAP

The government has taken prompt action to expedite the process of filing a case to claim compensation for damages caused by the X-press Pearl ship disaster after more than one year of finalising relevant documents and the environmental damage assessment report.

The Marine Environmental Protection Authority (MEPA) says that the environmental damage assessment report prepared for claiming compensation for the environmental damage caused by the X-press Pearl ship disaster will be submitted to the Attorney General before January 15.

The MEPA had previously informed the Cabinet of Ministers that it is advisable to file a case in a Sri Lankan court to obtain the relevant compensation.

More than a year since the sinking of the cargo ship the X-Press Pearl in the island nations territorial waters , Sri Lanka is still grappling to claim compensation of US$ 7 billion from the ship owners which was brought down to $ 4 billion due unknown reasons amidst the delay in  finalising relevant documents and proceed with the case.        

Meanwhile, President Ranil Wickremesinghe has further discussed the matter during the Cabinet meeting held recently and instructed to file a case before a Singapore Court to obtain compensation for the environmental damage caused by the X-press Pearl ship.

The Chairperson of the MEPA, Attorney-at-law Sudarshanee Lahandapura mentioned that the assessment of the environmental damage has not been completed so far.She further emphasized that no payment or compensation has yet been made for the environmental damage caused by the ship.

The MEPA chaIrperson’s statement was mind boggling because of the conclusion of the report devised by an expert committee investigating the extent of damage caused to the country’s marine and coastal environment.

The X-press Pearl ship disaster is supposed to be the worst in terms of chemical and plastic pollution of the sea.

That’s according to Ajith de Alwis, co-chair of the X-Press Pearl damage assessment committee and a professor of chemical and process engineering at the University of Moratuwa.

The committee has submitted its assessment report to the Attorney General’s Office sometimes back for use in claiming compensation from the Singapore-based operators of the ship.

Therefore Lahandapura’s MEPA environmental damage assessment report on the ship disaster came in to the limelight after the President’s directive issued at the cabinet meeting raised eyebrows of many environmental activists  

The subject minister Prasanna Ranatunge said some 11,061 fisher families from Gampaha District, 3050 families from Colombo and 701 families from Kalutara were affected by the tragedy. “Some 4888 fishermen have lost their livelihood as a result of the disaster,”

“Some 1726 metric tons of rubble pellets from the ship have been collected till this date, while arrangements have been made to salvage the ship from the sea. The company which owns the ship has given this task to a foreign company.

Also the Minister revealed that former state Minister Nalaka Godahewa and the then Secretary of Ministry of Foreign Affairs Jayanath Kolambage should take the responsibility of their failure to take prompt action to claim compensations damages caused to Sri Lanka following ship disasters of  New Diamond and  X-Press Pearl with in the past two years.

1. Transport Minister Dr Bandula Gunawardane begins pilot project to plant cinnamon trees on both sides of the Southern Expressway: says the cinnamon plants have been donated to the Road Development Authority by Minister Dr Ramesh Pathirana.
   
2. MP Rohitha Abeygunawardena says the SLPP is ready for an election at any time: refutes Opposition claims the Govt is trying to postpone the Local Government Elections: also says the SLPP has already called for applications for candidates.
   
3. National Chamber of Commerce President Nandika Buddhipala laments previous governments had not been serious about implementing reforms: claims Sri Lanka has 527 SOEs and labour costs of such SOEs are around 70% higher than in private firms: says present govt is serious about restructuring and has to be encouraged.
   
4. President Ranil Wickremesinghe promotes Rear Admiral Priyantha Perera to rank of Vice Admiral: appoints him the 25th Commander of the Sri Lanka Navy.
   
5. China’s Embassy in Sri Lanka tweets that 75 years ago on 18th December 1952, China and Sri Lanka signed the historic Rubber-Rice Pact: says the Pact alleviated the rice and foreign reserves shortage and opened doors to diplomatic ties between the two countries.
   
6. Minister of Foreign Employment Manusha Nanayakkara says over 300,000 Sri Lankans have left the country this year for foreign employment: claims this is the highest number of Sri Lankans leaving for foreign jobs since independence.
   
7. Agriculture Minister Mahinda Amaraweera says there are about 100,000 acres of paddy lands that have not been cultivated and that the Govt will “take over” those lands in 2023 for 5 years: asserts the Agricultural Act will be amended for this purpose.
   
8. Free Trade Zone Manufacturers Assn notes apparel industry is facing huge setbacks: employees compelled to quit with no allowances and limited work-days: industry facing 25% drop in orders: SME sector providing garments to the larger apparel corporates on the brink of closure.
   
9. New electricity tariff rates to be submitted to the Cabinet by January 2023, by-passing Public Utilities Commission: Cabinet paper being prepared setting the average selling price at Rs 42 per unit.
   
10. Dasun Shanaka remains skipper for the white-ball Cricket series against India starting in January 2023: two vice captains also appointed – Kusal Mendis and Wanindu Hasaranga.