A call to protect Sri Lanka’s tourism investors

SRI Lanka’s tourism sector which is often hailed as the lifeline of rural economies has once again been struck by severe weatherrelated devastation.

- By Anura Lokuhetty

Two tourists boarding a train at Fort Railway Station

(Pic by Sameera Wijesinghe)

For more than four decades, our industry has endured a relentless cycle of man-made and natural crises from civil conflict and the Easter Sunday attack to the pandemic, economic collapse, and the recent floods. Yet, despite every setback, tourism has always risen through the extraordinary resilience of its people and its investors.Today, the biggest casualties are not just the hotels and resorts but the hundreds of thousands of Sri Lankans who rely on tourism for their daily income. The industry’s multiplier effect is immense. Every room occupied supports livelihoods across transport providers, farmers, craft makers, excursion operators, small restaurants, local shops, airport staff, guides, and countless families in remote villages. When tourism suffers, an entire chain of rural economies collapses with it.

Investors under unprecedented pressure

Among the hardest hit are genuine hotel investors, especially those who opened properties around 2017, just before the series of national shocks began. They invested with good intentions, often in disadvantaged rural areas, with the aim of uplifting local communities and contributing to the national economy.

These investors have been battered repeatedly through no fault of their own. Many took loans based on stable tourism forecasts that never materialised due to repeated crises. Today, they face aggressive banking actions such as parate execution, despite being responsible, committed, and transparent borrowers.

It is critically important that these investors are not treated as defaulters, but as essential partners in national recovery. Their properties support thousands of indirect livelihoods, and if forced into liquidation, the long-term damage to Sri Lanka’s tourism fabric will be severe and irreversible.