As Sri Lanka’s tourism industry inches towards recovery amid intensified security after the tragic Easter Sunday carnage, the Kingsbury – one of three hotels subject to suicide bomb attacks – said it will resume normal operations on Thursday.

Imara De Chickera, the hotel’s director of communications and spokesperson, said the hotel would be open for normal operations on Thursday, five days after suicide bombers detonated bombs at this hotel and two others, the Shangri-La and the Cinnamon Grand – all in the capital.

“Our accommodation and banquet operations are open, in addition to three restaurants and a bar,” she said, adding that the main restaurant where the suicide bomb was detonated is closed for repairs.”

Asked whether the hotel was still receiving bookings, she said: “Surprisingly some people called and wanted rooms.” While the Cinnamon Grand has been open throughout with limited operations, the Shangri-La has been closed until further notice.

At least 359 people, including 40 foreigners, died in the attacks at the three hotels and three churches across the land. International Islamic terror group, the ISIS has claimed responsibility for the attacks, while the government has blamed an Islamic extremist group called the National Thowheeth Jama’ath, adding that it had foreign links.

The bombings were believed to be the worst single strike Sri Lanka has seen, even considering the 30-year Tamil separatist conflict which ended in May 2009.

Some hotels are seeing security intensified similar to what was seen during the Tamil separatist conflict, the industry was putting the pieces together to put forward a brave face to the world and demonstrate resilience, much like in the dark days of 1980-2009.

As travel players worldwide express solidarity with the country in the wake of the attacks, Champika De Silva, cluster director of sales at Anantara Resorts in Sri Lanka, said they received assurance and support from foreign operators. Kuoni for example urged some worried patrons to postpone the holiday, instead of cancelling it altogether. “That was very nice and considerate, I thought,” she said.

Two large groups from Australia and France had cancelled bookings while April/May looked bleak. “There is no pick-up in bookings, enquiries are non-existent,” she said, although they had some bookings for October.

Shiromal Cooray, chairperson of Jetwing Hotels, has seen “a fair amount of cancellations”.

With tight security by police, assisted by the military to reinstate order, she expressed hope for the situation to be brought under control very soon.

Stringent security at hotels meant all car parks in the building and its vicinity were closed and vehicles coming to the hotels had to be park elsewhere.

All bags went through stringent checks while metal detectors and other security scanners that some hotels used during the 30-year conflict have been reactivated.

Sanath Ukwatte, chairman of the Mount Lavinia Hotel and president of the Hotels Association of Sri Lanka, said they had about 20-30 per cent cancellations, adding that there was heightened police presence near the hotel as part of state security measures.

“These stringent measures would ease once the situation is brought under control,” he expects. The association was also meeting on April 29 for its routine monthly meeting where the crisis will be reviewed.

Sri Lanka Tourism, in a statement on Tuesday, reassured the world that the country is open for business and all possible measures have been taken to ensure the safety and security of tourists.

“Our world-famous tourism sites, hotels, resorts and other tourist attractions will remain open as usual. There are no road closures or restrictions on movement anywhere in the island,” the NTO said. “We look forward to warmly welcome all those who have planned trips to the country.”

The series of Easter Sunday bombs, which killed at least 321 people and wounded 500, could also deal a crushing blow to Sri Lanka’s fragile economy, of which tourism is a significant revenue generator since the end of the civil war in 2009.

Many tourism industry leaders have condemned the bombings and mourned the loss of lives, while urging the global travel community to stand in solidarity with Sri Lanka by continuing to visit the island nation.

In a circular distributed to partners and friends, Shiromal Cooray, chairman & managing director of Jetwing Travels and chairman of Jetwing Hotels wrote: “It is with profound sadness and a very heavy heart that I write this message to you. I did not in my wildest dreams imagine that terror will strike my beautiful and peaceful island home just a decade after we ended a senseless war. It appears that sinister forces were at play and we are confident that our intelligence and defense personnel will do what needs to be done, to continue that peace and tranquility that attracted and continue to attract many visitors to Sri Lanka.”

She continued: “You have been with us at our worst and seen us through very difficult situations, I ask you again on behalf of all Sri Lankans and especially, our team at Jetwing, please continue in the same spirit, we cannot and must not let these incidents rule our lives.”

Jetwing, unfortunately, lost a young couple, a telephone operator and her fiancé, a steward from its Jetwing Blue team in Negombo, as well as a newlywed guest who stayed with his wife at the Kingsbury Hotel in Colombo as part of their honeymoon.

While Creative Travel is not directly affected by deadly bombs and all its staff and guests are safe and accounted for, joint managing directors Rajeev Kohli and Rohit Kohli made an emotion appeal to the global travel community.

They said: “One humble request – please do not abandon the destination. The nation survives on tourism and needs the support of the global travel industry. Many nations over the past few years have gone through traumatic natural or man-made incidents that have impacted tourism. But we have also seen many of them getting the affection and support from the tourism fraternity. We hope Sri Lanka will get the same.”

G Adventures’ founder, Bruce Poon Tip, stated that any attack on our religious institutions is an attack on all humanity, regardless of faith. “We cannot allow this wave of division to further separate humanity. We must use this tragic loss to unite us. It’s my belief that compassion for all people, combined with an understanding of different backgrounds, religions and cultures, has the potential to be the fastest path to peace.”

Chic Locations said that Sri Lanka has been one of its most successful destinations over the last two years with excellent client satisfaction, and recommends clients “to continue travelling but adhere to sensible precautions, just as you would in any country following such an attack”.

The UK-based luxury boutique operator added: “Whilst we anticipate there may be some apprehension to travel to the destination, we can assure you that the Sri Lanka destination tourism partners, hotels and ground operators working in tandem with the government are introducing additional measures to ensure safety and allay these concerns.

“We expect that within a few months Sri Lanka will be just as popular as ever, with clients from around the world defiantly refusing to be beaten by any cowardly act. We have experienced this in so many countries including the UK (London and Manchester) and we have no reason to think Sri Lanka will be any different.”