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Foreign Minister Dr. Sarath Amunugama said there is no justification for travel advisories issued by countries as public life remains largely undisrupted by the political turbulence, and that the tourism sector has not been subjected to any inconvenience.
The Minister made these observations when he met with the leading inbound tour operators, Senior Officials of Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau (SLTPB), representatives of Sri Lankan Airlines and other leading foreign carriers to discuss the travel advisories issued recently, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
He said the Government was fully committed to safeguarding and improving the tourism industry.
Industry leaders briefed the Minister that in addition to regular flights, TUI, one of the world’s leading tour operators, is now scheduled to operate three charter flights to Colombo on a weekly basis while the TUI Cruise Liner is also scheduled to use Sri Lanka as a Port of Call in the high season.
The industry leaders also informed that Aeroflot had announced nonstop direct flights from Moscow to Colombo from 28 October onwards and SWISS will resume its direct flights from Zurich to Colombo starting tomorrow. Meanwhile, Lonely Planet, one of the leading international travel guide publishers, recently named Sri Lanka as the world’s top destination.
It was noted that presently, there are around 4,000 cricket fans from the UK in Sri Lanka to follow the English cricket team’s current tour. This was testimony to the peaceful environment prevailing in the country and tourists are enjoying uninterrupted access to tourist sites and facilities throughout the island.
The Minister also informed that since the assumption of his present portfolio, he has instructed all Heads of Sri Lanka Missions overseas to personally make representation to the authorities concerned in their countries of accreditation in order to remove the travel advisories, to be in keeping with the ground realities in Sri Lanka.
They will also maintain regular interaction with the leading travel agents/outbound tour operators in their respective capitals to brief them on the peaceful situation prevailing in the island with a view to promoting arrivals. The Minister said that he planned to make tourism promotion a main aspect of the Foreign Ministry’s work program.
Foreign Secretary Ravinatha Aryasinha and Senior Officials of the Ministry were present at the meeting.
