Mirissa: Blacked out by a power cut at a Sri Lankan beach guesthouse, the owner’s son publishes a printed WiFi password with his phone for two European backpackers. After a moment all three understood the futility of the gesture.
Power outages, petrol queues and mounting protests are jeopardizing hopes that a tourism revival could help avert the island nation’s acute financial crisis.
Devastated by decades of civil war, the country’s coconut palm-lined beaches and exotic wildlife have recently made it a popular stomping ground for both high-end globetrotters and budget travelers.
Tourism became critical to the economy – its pandemic-enforced shutdown underscores the foreign exchange shortage that is the root cause of the current situation.
But now that the effects of the crisis are threatening the industry which is a key element of any potential solution, many smaller operators are expected to hit the wall soon.
“Due to power cuts, we cannot serve our customers,” Dilip Sandaruvan, the owner of the darkened hostel, told AFP. “They are not satisfied and they are demanding lower prices.”
He has some reservations at his guesthouse a short walk from the beach in the coastal town of Mirissa, and his family is struggling to pay interest on loans taken to weather the Covid years – let alone the principal.
“We are always under stress,” Sandaruvan said. “We don’t know how to pay off our loans, but the banks are putting a lot of pressure on us.”
Similar stories of mourning resonate among business owners up and down Mirissa’s back alleys.
Guests are concerned about sweating on tropical nights without air conditioning, hoteliers can’t access online booking platforms, and restaurants are concerned about catering to Western tastes as they struggle to source imported coffee.
Growing fuel shortages are making it difficult to move around the country, with long lines of motorbike taxis waiting outside service stations for scarce petrol.
“I have never told foreigners that there is a fuel problem,” said Pradeep Chandana de Silva, owner of Motorboat Tour Company.
He sends crews every day before dawn in search of diesel to bring tourists to Balapitia’s mangrove lagoon, pointing to cormorants and baby crocodiles along the way.
“The situation is fine at the moment, but if there are long queues and less fuel, it will be terrible for the entire industry,” he said.
The shortage is making daily life miserable for many in Sri Lanka and sparking outrage, with security forces deployed around Colombo on Friday after protesters attempted to storm the president’s home overnight.
But bewildered alien adventurers often arrive without knowledge of the crisis, or an understanding of its scale.
“Everyone here is telling you, ‘Hey, we’ve got a lot of problems with gas, fuel, electricity and things like that’,” Nick Reiter, a German tourist waiting to fill up his rented scooter at a petrol station he said.
“But right now, it’s so crazy.”
Indian tourist Ayesha Khan said she was unaware of the situation until after booking her flights, and considered canceling.
“We didn’t know much until we actually got here,” she said, breaking up a romantic sunset walk with her husband on Mirissa beach.
Both knew that their driver had waited for hours in petrol lines and said that the power at their residence was regularly cut without warning, but neither regretted their trip.
Khan’s partner Afnan Syed said, “It has been nothing but a good experience for us.”
“I wouldn’t mind coming here again.”
Sri Lankan tourism has been plagued with setbacks in the past, even after the civil war. Three years ago on Easter Sunday, Islamic attacks targeted hotels and churches, killing 279 people and sparking a wave of cancellations.
A pandemic recovery began late last year, with about 100,000 arriving in February, about 40 percent of previous peaks.
But later that month Russia invaded Ukraine, stopping almost all visits from the number one and three sources of foreign arrivals.
Experts say that even a now fully thriving tourism industry will not be enough for Sri Lanka to pull itself out of its rising debt payments.
“While tourism has picked up since Covid… it is not substantial at all,” said picturesque Amerisekera, an economist at JB Securities Advisory Firm in Colombo.
“The amount payable every month is not covered by the size of tourism receipts,” he said. “Even in Sri Lanka’s history when tourism was at its peak… we were still running a current account deficit.”
The government is scrambling to rescue holidaymakers from the hardships facing most of the country’s 22 million people. Accredited tour guides are allowed to skip the petrol queues – much to the occasional concern of other drivers waiting in line.
“We found some problems because they’re out of petrol,” said Spanish tourist Nazareth Marina at the centuries-old Dutch fort in Galle.
But the Sri Lankans, he said, “treat us really well, so it’s really nice to be here now”.
Watch Massive protests outside Rashtrapati Bhavan in Colombo
Power outages, petrol queues and mounting protests are jeopardizing hopes that a tourism revival could help avert the island nation’s acute financial crisis.
Devastated by decades of civil war, the country’s coconut palm-lined beaches and exotic wildlife have recently made it a popular stomping ground for both high-end globetrotters and budget travelers.
Tourism became critical to the economy – its pandemic-enforced shutdown underscores the foreign exchange shortage that is the root cause of the current situation.
But now that the effects of the crisis are threatening the industry which is a key element of any potential solution, many smaller operators are expected to hit the wall soon.
“Due to power cuts, we cannot serve our customers,” Dilip Sandaruvan, the owner of the darkened hostel, told AFP. “They are not satisfied and they are demanding lower prices.”
He has some reservations at his guesthouse a short walk from the beach in the coastal town of Mirissa, and his family is struggling to pay interest on loans taken to weather the Covid years – let alone the principal.
“We are always under stress,” Sandaruvan said. “We don’t know how to pay off our loans, but the banks are putting a lot of pressure on us.”
Similar stories of mourning resonate among business owners up and down Mirissa’s back alleys.
Guests are concerned about sweating on tropical nights without air conditioning, hoteliers can’t access online booking platforms, and restaurants are concerned about catering to Western tastes as they struggle to source imported coffee.
Growing fuel shortages are making it difficult to move around the country, with long lines of motorbike taxis waiting outside service stations for scarce petrol.
“I have never told foreigners that there is a fuel problem,” said Pradeep Chandana de Silva, owner of Motorboat Tour Company.
He sends crews every day before dawn in search of diesel to bring tourists to Balapitia’s mangrove lagoon, pointing to cormorants and baby crocodiles along the way.
“The situation is fine at the moment, but if there are long queues and less fuel, it will be terrible for the entire industry,” he said.
The shortage is making daily life miserable for many in Sri Lanka and sparking outrage, with security forces deployed around Colombo on Friday after protesters attempted to storm the president’s home overnight.
But bewildered alien adventurers often arrive without knowledge of the crisis, or an understanding of its scale.
“Everyone here is telling you, ‘Hey, we’ve got a lot of problems with gas, fuel, electricity and things like that’,” Nick Reiter, a German tourist waiting to fill up his rented scooter at a petrol station he said.
“But right now, it’s so crazy.”
Indian tourist Ayesha Khan said she was unaware of the situation until after booking her flights, and considered canceling.
“We didn’t know much until we actually got here,” she said, breaking up a romantic sunset walk with her husband on Mirissa beach.
Both knew that their driver had waited for hours in petrol lines and said that the power at their residence was regularly cut without warning, but neither regretted their trip.
Khan’s partner Afnan Syed said, “It has been nothing but a good experience for us.”
“I wouldn’t mind coming here again.”
Sri Lankan tourism has been plagued with setbacks in the past, even after the civil war. Three years ago on Easter Sunday, Islamic attacks targeted hotels and churches, killing 279 people and sparking a wave of cancellations.
A pandemic recovery began late last year, with about 100,000 arriving in February, about 40 percent of previous peaks.
But later that month Russia invaded Ukraine, stopping almost all visits from the number one and three sources of foreign arrivals.
Experts say that even a now fully thriving tourism industry will not be enough for Sri Lanka to pull itself out of its rising debt payments.
“While tourism has picked up since Covid… it is not substantial at all,” said picturesque Amerisekera, an economist at JB Securities Advisory Firm in Colombo.
“The amount payable every month is not covered by the size of tourism receipts,” he said. “Even in Sri Lanka’s history when tourism was at its peak… we were still running a current account deficit.”
The government is scrambling to rescue holidaymakers from the hardships facing most of the country’s 22 million people. Accredited tour guides are allowed to skip the petrol queues – much to the occasional concern of other drivers waiting in line.
“We found some problems because they’re out of petrol,” said Spanish tourist Nazareth Marina at the centuries-old Dutch fort in Galle.
But the Sri Lankans, he said, “treat us really well, so it’s really nice to be here now”.
Watch Massive protests outside Rashtrapati Bhavan in Colombo