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Hotel workers slam PM for ‘tourists can protest’ comment

30 May 2022

  • Union claims comments will deter tourists
By Buddhika Samaraweera The Hotel Workers’ Centre (HWC) of the Inter-Company Employees’ Union (ICEU) has charged that Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe is discouraging tourists who wish to visit Sri Lanka at a time when the country desperately needs more tourists, following comments made by the PM that tourist can come to Sri Lanka and join protests against the Government. Speaking to The Morning yesterday (29), HWC National Organiser Jayathilaka Ranasinghe said: “In a recent interview with a foreign media outlet, the Premier said that foreigners visiting the country could hold up a placard urging President Gotabaya Rajapaksa or the Premier to resign. It is not at all a statement that should have been made by the Premier, and it will definitely reduce the number of tourists visiting here.” He said that instead of making such baseless statements, the Government, led by Wickremesinghe should take the necessary steps to alleviate the difficulties faced by tourists visiting the country these days. “Tourists are facing a lot of difficulties these days, especially due to scheduled power cuts, shortages of imported foods such as apples, oranges, and cheese, and the inability to procure transport facilities due to the shortage of fuel. These issues need to be addressed first and foremost. In addition, a programme should be prepared within a very short period of time to attract more tourists to the country,” he added.  In a recent interview with the UK’s Sky News, Wickremesinghe said that tourists who are looking for an exciting experience could visit Sri Lanka. He said: “Maybe they could take part in the demonstrations. Maybe they could hold placards which say the President of Sri Lanka to go home, or you could hold a placard asking the Premier to go home. All those options are available.” Due to the severe shortage of foreign currency in the country, there are many issues that have arisen, including shortages of commodities such as gas, fuel, milk powder, and cement. Due to this, it is a matter of constant discussion that an urgent programme should be prepared to attract foreign currency to the country. Among them, many parties have pointed out that an urgent programme should be formulated to develop the tourism industry, which is one of the main foreign exchange-earning industries for the country.  


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