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Tourists advise others not to visit SL

11 May 2022

  • Cite woes including tense situation, curfews, power cuts, shortages, violence
  • Tourist Police Division claims no complaints from tourists 
  • NZ issues travel advisory against non-essential travel to SL
BY Dinitha Rathnayake  Tourists are concerned about travelling to Sri Lanka due to the tense situation in the country, and the tourists who are currently in Sri Lanka, or have recently left, are not confident in recommending the country to others due to the prevailing crises, The Morning learnt. Sharing their thoughts on social media, a few tourists advised other tourists against travelling to Sri Lanka, considering the current situation. “In my opinion, you would be mad to come to Sri Lanka when you could go to one of the many other open countries in the region that doesn’t have daily protests, power cuts, food shortages, fuel shortages, gas shortages, roadblocks, etc.,” one tourist had said. Another requested: “Please consider going elsewhere for the time being. Thailand, Bali in Indonesia, Malaysia, Laos, and India have so many fantastic options, minus the violence, sudden curfews, being stuck on a road for hours because of a protest, power cuts, etc. Sure, if you are identified as a visitor, you may be spared the violence. But why even subject yourself to seeing someone get beaten to a pulp, or property being torched to the ground? Unless you are happy to stay put in your hotel room, best venture elsewhere, in the interim.” Yet another added: “After living in Sri Lanka for a couple of years during the time of the Easter Sunday bombings of April 2019, I would recommend not going to the island country. As much as the country needs tourism and I’m sure there are safe areas, this level of unrest is concerning for a country and culture such as this.” It was also observed that the tourists in the Negombo area were also affected by the tense situation seen on Tuesday (10) night, when allegedly racially motivated conflicts occured between two groups, and one tourist had shared their experience on social media, saying: “We are in Negombo at the moment. The situation is bad.” However, speaking to The Morning, Tourist Police Division Director Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) M.A.M. Nawaz said that so far, no complaints had been received from tourists, and that he would ensure that the tourists in Sri Lanka are safe and are able to travel as usual.  Meanwhile, New Zealand has revised its travel advisory to Sri Lanka.  “We are now advising New Zealanders against undertaking non-essential travel to Sri Lanka due to recent civil unrest and the economic crisis in the country,” Tweeted New Zealand High Commissioner to Sri Lanka Michael Appleton yesterday (11).


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