Sri Lanka has gained international media coverage recently, not because of its impressive performance against Australia in the cricket, but because the previously flourishing tropical island has hit rock bottom economically and is basically bankrupt.
I’ll spare the reader a passionately opinionated suggestion as to how this has happened, but in summary, the people of the diverse multicultural country, which has been divided for generations using propaganda and George Orwell’esque fear tactics through tyrannical rule, has unified against the self appointed dynasty after realising that they have all been essentially getting robbed in broad daylight for decades, which has now led to a serious mess even the leaders can’t get out of.
This means some seriously tough times ahead for sure, but how will this impact your holiday?
Firstly, I’ll start with the fact that we were able to remain open to guests for the entire season (Oct – May) and that at no point did the country close it’s borders, so that is promising in itself and bodes well for the next season. However, we did face some challenges, the main one being the nation wide fuel shortages, which have resulted in power cuts, long queues for gas and petrol (our guy waiting in line from 5am yesterday and is still in line now at midday) and nationwide protests.
From a guest perspective, the main inconvenience was the power cuts. Most of the season was uninterrupted but at the height of the crisis these were up to 13hrs a day which was tough, but thankfully this only lasted a week or so. On average outages lasted around 4hrs and fortunately were during the day when most guests were either surfing, sunbathing or exploring so weren’t too inconvenienced and importantly, a/c and fans were usable when going to bed. Now we are down to one hour per day. It is also worth noting that we are given 3 days notice of scheduled powercuts so can plan accordingly.
Whilst the fuel shortages are resulting in long queues, we have a great group of reliable drivers who we work with and there was always someone on hand to take people where they wanted to go and our surf schedule and guest’s travel plans we never impacted. For example, during the height of the crisis we were still able to book a car and driver to take a guest 4 hours across the country with an hours notice.
Regarding the protests, the main thing that the people are protesting all over the country is #gohomegota a call for the President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to get out of the hot seat. These have been peaceful and have culminated at a single, main location, opposite the President’s Secretariat in the capital city Colombo which has been named “Gotagogama”. Thousands of people fare here everyday and night supporting the movement. The setup is actually quite impressive and it has all the basic requirements including free food, water, toilets, and even a make ship medical centre. But the despite sacking his brother as the Prime Minister, the President is still hanging in there.
The only time the scene got out of hand is when the Sri Lankan Government attacked the protesters (see pic below) and sent the police and apparently prisoners around torching ministerial homes to encourage violence, but this was quickly called out on social media, with the main factor being the fact that the people don’t have any fuel to run their scooters let alone set fire to bricks and concrete.
Pic from Twitter
As we’ve all seen from the past two years, things can change quickly for better or worse, but the people of Sri Lanka are tentatively optimistic that things will get better as the country is talking with the IMF, China and India about securing a bailout and financial support.
Whilst we are on the subject of finances it’s worth reminding that Sri Lanka’s economy has essentially collapsed, which means inflation has skyrocketed so the basics are becoming luxury items. Milk is double the price. Bread is double. Even tomatoes went up a whopping 150% in a couple of months, so now costing the same as they would on the discount isle at Waitrose. Taxes on imported goods have gone ridiculous, with the tax alone on already expensive imported cheese going from 1000lkr per kg to 2000lkr per kg over night. But again, this is tough for the people (and those with businesses relying on imported cheese) but how does this affect tourists?
Fortunately the attraction to Sri Lanka has never been powdered milk and camembert. The country remains as beautiful and as welcoming as ever. The local people have never been more grateful for tourism than in the last year and will go even further than the standard extra mile to accommodate foreigners, whilst the sun shines from coast to coast for 12 hours a day and the waves continue to roll in (with less surfers riding them).
The currency losing its value also has a positive affect on anyone bringing in any currency which isn’t the Sri Lankan rupee. For example, at the start of the season when advising guests on how much money to spend we would explain that £1 is about 220 rupees, which will get you a beer. Now £1 is 430 rupees. Yeah, nearly double. Now that doesn’t mean £1 will get you two beers, as obviously tax has gone up on alcohol but it will get you about 1.75 beers. So basically if you’re bringing in pounds, euros or dollars, you’re going to get a lot more bang for your buck.
At the time of writing, the current situation is that the country is well and truly open to tourism and that no tourist activities are being infringed. I’m actually writing this from a comfortable air conditioned cabana on the East Coast of Arugam Bay which is costing me approximately £15 a night, after a two hour surf at one of my favourite right hand points with only a handful of people out. So I would not only recommend Sri Lanka as a holiday destination right now, but urge you to come and visit before things go back to pre-covid times.
The UK Gov threw a spanner in the works and advised against all but essential travel, but this got lifted recently, so if you’re understanding of the fact that there may be some power cuts, can go a couple of weeks without a blue cheese pizza and are up for supporting this fragile country which desperately needs any help it can get then do it, now’s the time. The locals need the support and will welcome you with open arms.