Minister of Tourism, Hon. Prasanna Ranatunga says that with the success of the Covid vaccination programme in Sri Lanka, steps are being taken to remove Sri Lanka from the red list of countries on which travel restrictions have been imposed. He points out that discussions have already commenced in this regard at the diplomatic level. The Minister further stated that measures are being taken to make aware the Heads of State, Health and Tourism Authorities of those countries in this regard.

The Minister made these remarks at a discussion held with the officials of the Tourism Development Authority on the program to attract more tourists to the country. The discussion was held at the auditorium of the Sri Lanka Institute of the Tourism and Hotel Management (SLITHM).

Currently, countries such as the United States, Australia, New Zealand, Germany, Canada, Spain, China, Singapore and the United Arab Emirates have imposed travel restrictions on Sri Lanka, and Britain recently removed Sri Lanka from the red list. These countries have imposed these travel restrictions in view of the recent spread of Covid in Sri Lanka. During the discussion, the Regional Officers of the Tourism Promotion Bureau pointed out to the Minister that there are obstacles in attracting tourists to Sri Lanka due to the restrictions in those countries. They also pointed out that some health guidelines in the country have restricted the number of tourists visiting the country.

Responding to this, Minister of Tourism, Hon. Prasanna Ranatunga said that steps have been taken to update the health guidelines affecting tourists in consultation with the health authorities. He has pointed out to the Minister of Health on the need of reviving certain health guidelines prepared for the tourism industry prior to the commencement of the Covid vaccination program in the country. At present, more than 50% of the total population of the country has been fully vaccinated against Covid. Many countries around the world have already started the tourism. The Minister said that the health authorities have agreed to study the matter and update the health guidelines so that the people can be protected from the Covid pandemic as well as the tourism industry can be maintained.

The Minister said that in reviving the tourism industry after the Covid epidemic, maximum measures have been taken to prevent the spread of it from tourists to Sri Lankans and vice versa. The Minister pointed out that more than 40,000 tourists have visited Sri Lanka since January and only 270 of them have been reported to be infected with Covid-19.

The Minister instructed the officials to take steps to attract at least 1500 to 2000 tourists daily to Sri Lanka within the next three months and to plan tourism promotion activities to achieve the target of 5,000 tourists per day by next year. The Minister instructed the Tourism Promotion Bureau to implement creative promotion campaigns for this purpose and to promote Sri Lanka as a country that has successfully implemented the vaccination programme.

‘No matter how much you promote, it doesn’t matter if you don’t get results. Therefore, you don’t need excuses. Achieve goals’ the Minister told the officials.

Mr.S. Hettiarachchi, Secretary to the Ministry of Tourism, Mrs.Dhammika Wijesinghe, Director General of the Tourism Development Authority and Mrs. Madhubani Perera, Acting Managing Director of the Tourism Promotion Bureau also participated in the discussion.