Thursday 14 January 2016

JLL Report on Sri Lanka’s hospitality industry

By Chanaka de Silva

Property consultancy company JLL rereleased a report on the tourism sector of Sri Lanka in Colombo yesterday.


The report provides observation of the growth of the tourism sector in Sri Lanka.


Speaking at the press meet JLL Hotels & Hospitality Managing Director Mandeep Lamba said Sri Lanka, which has been ranked among the world's Top 10 'Coolest Countries' to be visited in 2015 shows room for tremendous growth. The North and the East Coast of Sri Lanka has a large requirement for development and training.

" It is advisable to let the market decide on the rates and they should not be controlled now. Even though it was correct at a particular time now that policy should be withdrawn. We are massively invested into Sri Lanka's hospitality market, which boasts of ongoing double-digit growth in tourist arrivals year-on-year. The country registered an average Compounded Annual Growth rate of 16% over the past five years, and is now working towards a target of 2.2 million tourist arrivals in 2016. The business potential is immense, and JLL has taken its customary leadership position in harnessing it" he said.

Sri Lanka had close to 1.8 million foreign tourist arrivals in 2015, demonstrating a growth of 17.8% over the previous year. Sri Lanka has approximately 28,000 rooms, of which over 60% fall in the informal segment

There is a planned hotel supply of close to 8,000 rooms, largely in Colombo and along the South-west coast Colombo has seen an increase in hotel supply in the 3 and 4 star segments leads to a slight decline in overall occupancy levels, while the city has also seen a slight decline in Average Room Rates.

While occupancy levels over the past three years have seen a steady increase, the South-west coast has seen a reduction in room rates during the year due to increased competition, with a substantial increase in room inventory along this stretch. There is a gradual shift in tourist profile, with arrivals from the traditional European source markets declining, while Asian countries have increased their market share - led by China and India.
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