Crisis looms on hotels and airlines

The India-Pakistan contest is not just a match but a big economic opportunity. For this match on 15th February, advance booking was done months in advance in major hotels of Colombo. Thousands of fans, media persons and international sponsors were expected to reach Colombo. Due to the fear of match cancellation, the process of cancellation of bookings on a large scale may start. Same is the situation with the airlines, who had scheduled special travel packages and additional flights for this match.

Big loss to Sri Lankan economy

Sri Lanka’s economy, which has been slowly recovering in recent years, is largely dependent on tourism. Industry experts believe that if this match does not happen, local businessmen, tour operators and small shopkeepers will have to suffer huge financial losses. Sri Lanka was expecting a huge inflow of foreign exchange through this mega event, which is now in a whirlpool of uncertainty.

Concern of Sri Lanka Cricket and ICC

According to sources, Sri Lanka Cricket is monitoring this matter very closely. Officials are assessing how much financial and logistics loss they will have to face in case the match does not take place. Sri Lanka Cricket plans to raise its formal concerns with the ICC in this regard, as as hosts they had made heavy security and administrative preparations for the match. This incident shows how political and administrative decisions taken in international sport can have far-reaching consequences for host countries. Withdrawal of any one team from the main match of the tournament not only hurts the sporting spirit but also hurts the economic activities of the country which is expecting development from global events.