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No takers for Lanka tours despite discounts

Last Updated 24 April 2019, 05:20 IST

Tourists from Bengaluru who used to flock to Sri Lanka are now shunning the island destination after Sunday’s deadly blasts, leading to the cancellation of bookings till May-end.

Though tour operators have also slashed rates to heritage and coastal destinations to attract tourists, there are no takers. Inquiries have also nearly stopped. Those who had made bookings are now seeking changes to other destinations at the same cost.

The Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) is also rethinking on its Ramayana circuit to Sri Lanka for this year.

IRCTC tour manager Kishore Sathya said these fiscal plans were chalked out for the second season of Ramayana circuit. The first circuit was held during last Diwali season. The management and government will now take a call.

“People are scared and so bookings are getting cancelled. A group of 28 people were to leave Bengaluru on April 26, but now they have cancelled the trip. Normally, during this holiday season, there are around 60 bookings, but now there are none,” said Adi Narayana, manager, Southern Travels.

Govind Kelkar, another tour operator, was also asked to cancel bookings. He said many tour operators have slashed rates by more than 30% to attract tourists for the later months but there are no takers.

The rates for a six-day, five-night trip per person has been slashed to Rs 16,000-Rs 27,000 from last year’s Rs 40,000, which included accommodation and sightseeing.

Rajeev Kale, president & country head, Holidays, MICE, Visa, Thomas Cook India Ltd said: “While we have received a couple of cancellation requests, it is early days yet to assess the impact on the destination.

Customers have been inquiring for optional short-haul international destinations like Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and Indian subcontinent destinations like Bhutan and Nepal and also domestic alternatives like Shillong, Kaziranga, Sikkim and Darjeeling.”

“Sri Lanka has always been a favoured destination for our Bengaluru tourists across our leisure, B-leisure and corporate and MICE segments,” said Kale.

According to sources in the Sri Lankan Deputy High Commission in Chennai, 4.24 lakh people from across India visited Sri Lanka on tourist visas in 2018.

From Bengaluru, 40,000 people, including foreigners, took flights to Colombo in 2018. Around 75% of these are Indian.

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(Published 23 April 2019, 19:17 IST)

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