No tourist establishment is authorised to discriminate against local tourists in favour of foreign tourists and action will be taken against all recalcitrant tourist establishments, the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA) states.

Discrimination of local tourists and ‘foreigners only’ policies were predominant issues that plagued the Sri Lankan tourism industry pre-2019. However, following the drastic decrease in foreign tourist arrivals in the aftermath of the Easter Sunday attacks and the Covid-19 pandemic, such discriminatory policies disappeared. 

Nevertheless, it appears that such discriminatory practices have resurfaced, as evidenced by the various complaints posted on social media about the discriminatory treatment that some local tourists had encountered at tourist establishments.

Speaking to The Sunday Morning Business, SLTDA Chairman Priantha Fernando stated that the SLTDA was yet to receive any complaints of such discriminatory practices by tourist establishments against local tourists. Regardless, he urged all persons who may have faced such discrimination to lodge a complaint with the SLTDA, assuring that the SLTDA would take appropriate legal action against such tourist establishments. 

“No tourist establishment has the right to discriminate against locals in favour of foreign tourists. They must treat all customers the same, regardless of whether they are locals or foreigners. In hospitality, everybody has to be treated equally and there can be no preferential treatment; you cannot discriminate.”

Fernando moreover expressed his surprise regarding the resurfacing of such discriminatory practices in the tourist industry, considering that the industry was still reliant on local tourists for business. 

Similarly, The Hotels Association of Sri Lanka (THASL) President and tourism industry veteran M. Shanthikumar, while expressing his ignorance of any recent incidents of discrimination of local tourists, vehemently criticised such behaviour and stated that such discriminatory policies were in complete contravention of the national tourism policy.

However, he stated that THASL had no mandate to police such behaviour, noting that the monitoring of such illegal behaviour fell within the ambit of the responsibilities of the SLTDA.