Banning liquor, casinos, nightclubs for Vesak third day will seriously impact tourism industry: Stakeholders raise concerns

Colombo, May 11 (Daily Mirror) - An arbitrary decision taken by the Cabinet to ban the countrywide sale of liquor, casinos and nightclubs for an extra day in addition to the two regular Vesak Poya holidays will have a serious impact on the tourism sector as well as incur a loss up to Rs.1 billion to the state coffers, said industry stakeholders while raising grave concerns.

A special circular issued by the Home Affairs Division of the Ministry of Public Administration, Provincial Councils and Local Government on May 5 has instructed the Ministry of Finance to take necessary measures to ban the sale of liquor, close all betting centres, casino parlours and nightclubs for three days on May 12, 13 and 14 in line with the Vesak Festival 2025.

Prohibiting countrywide liquor sales, meat stalls, casino and betting centres as well as night clubs patronised by foreign tourists on Vesak Full Moon Poya Day and the Day Following the Vesak Full Moon Poya Day has been the practice in Sri Lanka for many years in the past.

However, an arbitrary decision taken by the Cabinet of Ministers this year to extend that closure up to three days without stating a legitimate rationale will seriously affect the revenue generating wings as well as the tourism industry stakeholders including tourists.

Hoteliers and restaurateurs of the tourism industry raised serious concerns over the loss of foreign currency from scores of high spending tourists visiting the country for pleasure and holidays, with the closure of all entertainment sources for an irrational reason.

Meanwhile, sources with the Department of Excise, being one of the three main state revenue generating arms, said a loss of Rs.800 million to one billion will be incurred to the state coffers if countrywide liquor sales are banned for a single day. 

Although the closure of the mentioned business enterprises for two days in line with the Vesak Festival was the general practice in the past, banning them for an extra day will cause a considerable impact on generating state revenue. The Department of Excise has been given a revenue target of Rs. 242 billion to be achieved in 2025 by the Ministry of Finance.

Also, it is one of the chief objectives of the incumbent government to gain maximum revenue from foreign currency by developing the prevailing tourism industry, the stakeholders remarked.