Sri Lanka’s investment promotion minister Lakshman Yapa Abeywardena has indicated that hotels in the country have increased room rates 10-fold since the end of the civil war in 2009 without improving service to their clients.
He urged Sri Lanka to look for ways other than hotel price hikes to take advantage of the country’s booming tourism industry.
The minister told AFP: “These high rates are destroying the entire tourism industry.”
He said the country would pocket more from an increased number of visitors if room rates were lower.
The minister made the comments after giving formal approval for a $350 million integrated casino and hotel development in Colombo in which Australian casino czar James Packer is lining up to be a partner.
