Sri Lanka Police to enhance the safety and security of tourists

To strengthen the safety and security of tourists and increase police presence in the country, State Minister of Tourism Promotions Arundika Fernando met with Sri Lanka tourism officials and Sri Lanka Police Acting IGP Chandana Wickramaratne last week. 

Considering the current situation, several recommendations were discussed.  

Some of the key recommendations were: having Police for tourists at all popular tourist destinations from Colombo to down south; increasing Police presence at Ella, including Kandy and Galle Fort Railway Stations; having a separate Tourist Police Unit at the existing police stations, ideally including female officers; Tourist Police to wear a jacket and/or a band to distinguish themselves; increasing Tourist Police cadre to substantially to meet the safety requirements of the tourism industry; providing a body camera to the Tourist Police and using 1912 as a 24-hour call centre dedicated to tourism, providing Tourist Police assistance on request to properties willing to provide space for Tourist Police in their premises; making it mandatory for all tuk tuk and taxi drivers including Uber and PickMe to have a notice inside the vehicle with a photo of the driver, name, identification number, QR code and 119 for emergency; the SLTDA providing on monthly basis details of unregistered travel agents, guides and other unregistered establishments/services for necessary action by the Police. 

“As per President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s manifesto, annual tourism arrivals are expected to reach seven million in the future, and currently there are serious issues on the safety of tourists due to the lack of police presence. We believe these recommendations will help solve the existing issues related to the safety and security of the tourists and the industry,” State Minister of Tourism Promotions shared.