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Sri Lanka's upscale hotels suffer faltering occupancies
Feizal Samath, Colombo, November 1, 2012 |
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EVEN though visitor numbers to Sri Lanka remain on target for the year, high-end hotels and resorts in the country have registered 10 to 15 per cent dips in occupancy levels this winter.
Arrivals rose 18.1 per cent year-on-year in September, while visitor numbers from January to September increased 16 per cent year-on-year to 693,772, paving the way for Sri Lanka to reach its target of one million visitors for 2012 (TTG Asia e-Daily, April 23, 2012).
“However the arrivals (growth) is not reflected among the high-end hotels because of poor promotion of Sri Lanka overseas,” lamented Malin Hapugoda, managing director of Aitken Spence Hotels, the second largest hotel chain in the country.
Hapugoda explained that the lack of overseas promotion put Sri Lanka at a disadvantage against regional competitors such as Thailand and Malaysia, which were “very visible on the world stage”.
Other industry players pointed to a changing inbound profile as tourists to Sri Lanka increasingly seek cheaper accommodation options.
“The three- to five-star range is not attractive anymore,” said a source from a top inbound travel operator, adding that bookings for this segment had dropped by 10-15 per cent for the current winter season. |
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it is not only because of no promotions but the high prices with no service or quality to go with it. in other words no value for money. there are other destinations which are as beautiful but cheaper as a sri lanken working in tourism in mallorca spain it hurts me to see this. trend.maybe our hoteliers will come to their senses soon. we have a great product but we need to market it well.
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Posted by: Roshan Goonesekera |
02-11-2012 06:35:51 |
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What I believe, is that the overall tourism industry sector players in the island should have a better synergy when it comes to pricing politics. In a time the Global economy is correcting its trajectory, tourism sector players in Sri Lanka should constantly think and reposition themselves in order to get the uninterrupted flow. If that flexibility factor works well for Thailand, the undisputed market leader in the region, it must work for Sri Lanka as we have far more better advantages than the Thai counterpart. |
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Posted by: Gamini Gunasekera - Mendis |
02-11-2012 08:17:50 |
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Compare to other Asian country\'s Sri Lanka hotel price Are too High |
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Posted by: Billy Dada |
02-11-2012 17:31:41 |
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Agree with all of the above, its your prices that are far far too high, not your country promotion. Have stayed at 5 Aitken Spencer properties just not worth the high prices for such poor quality of hotel maintenance or service. But good to see they have demolished one shoddy example -Browns. So moving ahead as the natural beauty and heritage of Sri Lanka outrank most, and the imminent arrival of some top high end players into Sri Lanka it will force the current players to up their game.
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Posted by: Kerr Brown |
05-11-2012 17:39:14 |
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