The travel industry is happy in the swift action taken by the government to curb the Corona Virus entering Sri Lanka President Tourist Hotels Association (THASL) and Chairman and Managing Director of the Mount Lavinia Hotel Sanath Ukwatte said.
Scanners imported from Japan to detect passengers entering Sri Lanka though the Colombo International Airport was installed swiftly. In addition tourists and people coming from China too are separated and scanned at a special terminal which is also a step taken in the right direction.
China has taken a series of drastic steps in recent days to try to contain the outbreak, including a quarantine of 48 million citizens, halting inter-province buses to and from Beijing and suspending all tour groups from journeys outside the country. Ukwatte said that unlike the previous spread of SARS virus in 2002-2003, this Corona Virus has been identified and quick action is being taken all over the world. “Hence we think that spreading of Corona Virus would be brought under control soon.”
The global macroeconomic impact of SARS was estimated at USD 30–100 billion or around USD 3–10 million per case. The 2003 SARS outbreak caused losses of USD 12.3-28.4 billion and an estimated decrease of 1% in GDP in China and 0.5% in Southeast Asia. “We also believe that there would be an immediate negative impact especially in international travel but it would not be long term.
He said that the hoteliers are also taking measures to maintainer better hygiene conditions in hotels.
President City Hotels Association, M. Shantki Kumar also said that hotels have provided safety masks and staff has been told to be vigilant on any guests complaining of symptoms of Corona Virus. While commending the action taken by the government to curb the entry of the Corona Virus to Sri Lanka he also said that they feel that the impact on the industry would be only in the short term.
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