Foreign tourist arrival rates to Sri Lanka have risen following its dip during the Covid-19 pandemic and economic crisis. However, with the rise in arrival numbers, a concern that arises is their safety.
Sri Lanka attracts tourists who are looking for daring escapes where they test their physical abilities leisurely. However, since January, a number of foreign tourist deaths and injuries have been reported, raising questions regarding measures put in place to ensure that tourists who arrive in Sri Lanka leave the country safely.
The most recent report of a tourist death comes from Sigiriya, where a 78-year-old British tourist who was climbing the Sigiriya rock on 16 March died of a cardiac arrest.
A video posted on Facebook by Ceylon Spirit Tourism Association Secretary N.P. Wijesinghe showed a tourist guide performing CPR on a male foreign tourist who had been laid down on the platform by the frescoes. In the background of the video, another female foreign tourist is heard instructing the guide on the pace of his compressions. Officers of the Tourist Police are also seen performing CPR on the tourist.
When The Sunday Morning inquired further, Wijesinghe, who is a chauffeur guide, claimed that the tourist had died at the site due to a lack of personnel to provide effective first aid. He claimed that the treatment received by foreign tourists for the $ 35 ticket (roughly Rs. 10,500-11,000) did not meet expectations.
According to Wijesinghe, a total of three foreign tourists and three guides have died at the Sigiriya rock from the beginning of 2024 to now. “Sigiriya does not have a first-aid box or staff trained in first aid to be deployed during such incidents,” he further claimed.
Wijesinghe also shared the belief that foreign tourists were not too satisfied with Sigiriya because they did not feel assured about its safety.
When questioned about the incident, Central Cultural Fund (CCF) Project Manager for Sigiriya H.A.C. Gayan held that during this incident, the staff at the site had taken swift action and that the family of the deceased had been satisfied with their response, claiming that the wife of the late tourist had thanked everyone involved for their effort.
He also added that the Sigiriya site already had a health centre manned by an officer with 15 years of experience in the Red Cross and an assistant. However, he admitted that the health service should be improved, adding that steps were underway to introduce more safety measures.
“I am already in discussion with the medical officer of the area to get a doctor to this site. With about 4,000 visitors a day, this is like a small village,” he said, expressing his belief that the site needed a medical centre equipped with a doctor and nurses.
When questioned about the incident, Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA) and Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau (SLTPB) Chairman Buddhika Hewawasam claimed that the death of the tourist was an unfortunate incident where the tourist had already passed away by the time he had been brought down the steps.
He refuted the claim that there had not been personnel trained to give first aid and stated that there had also been hospital access. “We have the support of the Air Force, which is willing to even airlift certain people,” he said.
Although the death of the British national was due to natural causes, Deputy Minister of Tourism Ruwan Ranasinghe noted that risks remained. He recalled that there used to be a first-aid unit at the entrance to the Sigiriya rock, which had ceased to be. However, he noted that this needed to be reestablished.
“I have discussed bringing it back,” he said.
Pleas for safety from tourist guides
In 2024, the Sigiriya rock and museum reported over 500,000 visits from foreign tourists and is the most-visited tourist attraction in the country. According to the SLTDA, Sigiriya earned more than Rs. 3.9 billion from ticket sales to foreign tourists last year.
Guides have been flagging the safety risks at the Sigiriya rock for years, according to All Ceylon Tourism Service Providers’ Association President Gayan Thiththawela. Responding to inquiries by The Sunday Morning, he claimed that their requests had only been met with inaction from the authorities.
“As tour guides, we have informed the SLTDA and Ministry of Tourism about this, but we receive no response. Sigiriya is the number one tourist destination. If Sigiriya is like this, what can we say about the other sites? As a collective of industry associations, we are hoping to raise this issue through a media conference soon,” he said.
Thiththawela elaborated on the safety measures they were suggesting, which includes establishing first-aid facilities at the entrance of the site, a midpoint, or the top of the rock. The other is a system of assessing the health of the climber at climbing points such as Sigiriya and Adam’s Peak.
“In other countries, health assessments are made at climbing points where the tourist is also presented with terms and conditions for their safety. They are also told how long the ascent and descent is, and prior consent is obtained while warning them of the risks,” he noted.
He also stressed the urgent need to improve sanitation facilities for foreign tourists at sites such as Sigiriya, Kandy, and Adam’s Peak.
The Tourist Police
The Tourist Police offers a security presence in Sigiriya and other tourist attractions. In the video from the incident at Sigiriya rock on 16 March, officers of the Sigiriya Tourist Police are seen performing CPR on the tourist.
The Police officers at the site are trained in first aid and are equipped to deal with such emergencies, according to the CCF Project Manager for Sigiriya.
When questioned about the role of the Tourist Police in ensuring the safety of tourists, Thiththawela said that the Police had played its role satisfactorily. However, he also pointed out that authorities were responsible for establishing mechanisms to deliver the required assistance.
“We get the necessary support from the Police, but the relevant authorities do not instruct them on where they should take action and how,” he added.
While the Tourist Police is a well-functioning entity, there is a weakness when it comes to connecting tourists to services provided by the Police, according to Uva Wellassa University Faculty of Management Dean Dhananjaya Nawarathna. He stated that tourist information centres could be better utilised to make these connections.
Incidents since January
Several incidents of foreign tourist deaths and injuries have been reported since January this year.
On the 26 January, a foreign tourist was reported dead due to drowning, while two foreign children were rescued in the seas off Ahungalla in the Southern Province. All three were rescued from the waters, but the adult who was in critical condition died after admission to the Balapitiya Hospital.
In early February, the deaths of a 24-year-old British national and a 26-year-old German were reported internationally, where they reportedly fell ill after a room in their Colombo hostel was fumigated for bed bugs.
Adding to these, a death and an injury on trains were reported on 19 February and 9 March, respectively, on the stretch from Badulla to Nanu Oya. Both incidents had taken place during attempts by the victims to capture photographs while leaning out of the train.
Strengthening safety measures
Meanwhile, new safety measures are underway to ensure the safety of persons at tourist sites.
Addressing the establishment of a new emergency treatment unit at Sigiriya, Deputy Minister Ranasinghe flagged the challenge of recruiting staff to run it.
“We have enough funds, but staff recruitment is a challenge,” he said.
Medical staff from other areas are often reluctant to work there as it is far from their homes. According to CCF Project Manager Gayan, there is a lack of trained labour that can be recruited from the area. However, the Ministry of Tourism is in discussions with the Ministry of Health to address this challenge.
Further elaborating on improving safety at Sigiriya, Gayan stated that training programmes were being planned for all personnel on first aid.
“Someone may collapse anywhere, so we need all staff at the site ready to perform first aid,” he said.
Sigiriya is a site that sees many accidents daily, although none of the accidents are due to structural failures of the site. “Nobody has ever been put at risk by a guardrail coming off or a wall collapsing,” held Gayan.
However, he said that heart attacks were common in foreigners, including those with good physical fitness due to their having climbed at a high speed with little rest. He noted that, as a solution to the issue, a medical professional was being consulted on a systematic way to provide prior advice when climbing the rock.
The SLTDA too held that it was working in close collaboration with the Ministry of Health to obtain its services in relation to the authority’s plans to strengthen safety in tourist areas. Chairman Hewawasam said that the plan was to establish multi-functional tourist centres which would also be equipped with healthcare facilities for tourists.
Mitigating the risks in taking aesthetically beautiful yet life-threatening photographs on moving trains is another issue to be addressed. These photographs are widely shared to the point of becoming viral.
While observing that the deaths and injuries involving the Badulla train were caused by individual behaviour, Deputy Minister Ranasinghe said that plans were underway in collaboration with Sri Lanka Railways to increase tourists’ awareness of the dangers of such behaviour.
“I have discussed the matter with the General Manager of Railways and we will be doing this through sign boards and stickers that will inform tourists of the dangers,” Ranasinghe said.
The Government’s attention has also been directed towards monitoring all service providers in the industry. Pointing out that the cause of the deaths of tourists at a Colombo hostel had been an issue of substandard quality, Ranasinghe said that about 60% of service providers in Sri Lanka’s tourism sector were informal.
“They have not registered with the ministry. They evade monitoring and regulation because they do not fall under our scope,” he said.
Under the programme to absorb these service providers into a formal system, accommodation establishments will be registered under a Colombo-based central body or the respective Provincial Councils depending on the capacity of the establishment.
This division is also made in order to avoid double taxation that could affect businesses negatively. Once the absorption is completed, guidelines will be issued and monitoring will follow.
In its National Tourism Policy presented before the 2024 Parliamentary Elections, the National People’s Power (NPP) states that it will ensure the health and safety of tourists and service personnel involved in the industry through the establishment of a special unit with related authorities.
The policy document further states that a special health and safety certification programme will be introduced by means of a gradual process for sector establishments and individuals as a mandatory requirement for their licence renewal and upgrading processes.
Overall picture
The weak relationship between the SLTDA and provincial ministries of tourism, over-tourism, focus on quantity over quality of tourists, weak human resource development in the sector, and the absence of proper monitoring mechanisms are challenges that need to be addressed, according to tourism academic Nawarathna.
He stated that when Sri Lanka attracted high-spending tourists, it was essential that they felt their trip was safe. Highlighting that local tourists played an important role in attracting foreign tourists to locations, he stated that ensuring the safety of local tourists was also important.
Elaborating on what he viewed as a weak connection, Nawarathna noted that the SLTDA needed to work hand in hand with provincial bodies such as ministries of tourism and educational institutions like universities.
“Those who are based in the provinces know which safety concerns are pertinent, as tourism always functions with a provincial focus. Even universities and other tertiary and vocational educational institutions can support this endeavour as they conduct studies and have data,” he added.
Nawarathna also stressed the importance of strict monitoring of all tourism service providers to ensure that the services were safe for use. He said that while there were resources deployed for implementation, monitoring may not always receive the same attention.