Agoda, Booking.com, and Expedia are reportedly rejecting 'two-bit' hotel registrations.

The Sri Lanka Tourist Hotel Association strongly urges the government to provide urgent solutions to the unfair competition arising from the rapidly expanding unregistered accommodation providers in the country's tourism industry. Accordingly, they propose that a new legal framework should be established to restrict access to international online booking platforms such as Agoda, Booking.com, and Expedia only to establishments officially registered under the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority.

Speaking at a special press conference held in Colombo, tourism experts pointed out that legally operating hotels are currently under severe tax pressure. For every hundred rupees they earn, twenty-five rupees have to be paid to the government as various license fees and taxes. However, unregulated and unorganized accommodation providers operate completely free from paying taxes, and due to this, there is a serious risk of foreign exchange that should be accruing to the country flowing out through other channels instead of entering the official banking system, they further stated.

Mr. Ashoka Hettigoda revealed that their association is currently working in collaboration with the Ministry of Digital Economy to mitigate this crisis. According to him, a very simple legal change can completely prevent unregistered establishments from being promoted through international websites. Hotel owners strongly believe that adopting such a measure will not only increase government tax revenue but also ensure the safety of foreign tourists visiting the island, as well as the high quality and reliability of the services they receive.