A Study on Business Performance of Boutique Hotels after Easter Sunday Attacks in Sri Lanka

Abstract

Tourism sector of Sri Lanka had a rapid growth and identified as the largest source of income in Sri Lanka (Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority, 2018. Easter attack which took place in April 2019 resulted a severe hit to the Boutique hotels in Sri Lanka. The purpose to conduct this study was to identify how Boutique hotels in Sri Lanka are working to regain their business performance after the Easter Sunday attack. The data for this research were assembled employing a strategy of qualitative data. Data were collected through twelve face-to-face semi structured interviews and analyzed base on content analysis by using Word cloud. Many employees in the tourism sector have lost their jobs due to this attack. The majority of the owners stated that now they are focusing more on local customers instead of foreigners. Owners use social media platforms and special discount packages (credit card and visa card discounts) to attract local customers. Banks and financial institutions have offered some loan schemes for hotels to regain their performance. The outcomes will offer assistance for the individuals who are predominantly or indirectly related to the Boutique hotels of the tourism industry in Sri Lanka. In addition to that, this research will assist proper understanding about if the hoteliers have to face crises like the Easter Sunday attack again, how they manage their business performances by using considerable factors of Boutique hotels in Sri Lanka. Since the revenue generated from tourism industry is more important to the Sri Lankan economy, the respected authorities can focus more on the Boutique hotel sector and make arrangements to re-establish the lost revenues in the Sri Lankan economy.

Keywords: Boutique Hotels, Business Performance, Crisis, Easter Sunday Attack