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| Wednesday, 22 October 2003 |
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by Chloe Griffiths Recent figures released by the National Zoological Gardens in Dehiwela highlight how the current peace process is continuing to have positive consequences for tourism in Colombo. The National Zoo has seen a noticeable increase in its visiting figures since December 2001, both in the amount of Sri Lankans visiting from the north, particularly from areas such as Jaffna, and from growing numbers of foreign tourists who are now selecting Sri Lanka as their travel destination. In December 1999, two years before the UNF came into power and the peace process began, only 82,814 Sri Lankans and 978 foreigners had visited the zoo, one of Colombo's top tourist attractions. In comparison, in December 2002, after a peaceful year, the zoo's visitor figures had risen to 147,116 for national and 1,251 for international tourists. 2003 now looks like it could be the zoo's most successful year in recent times with figures steadily rising as the country becomes gradually more settled. The figures for August 2003 are almost 2,000 higher than the previous year and 6,000 greater than 2001. To capitalise on the growing interest in the zoo and to attract greater amounts of tourists to Colombo, the zoo are planning to implement several new developments. Assistant Director General of the zoo Dammika Malsinghe, told the Daily News that if sufficient funding was received from the government there were plans to create a new museum housing skeletal remains and a restaurant next year. Improvements have already commenced in the area of indigenous animals and birds and a new project for breeding indigenous cat species, such as the Golden Palm Civet, which is endemic to Sri Lanka, is under way. "It is important to us to emphasise the endemic side of the zoo more, we hope that by making the zoo more specialist to our country it will appeal to more tourists," Malsinghe said. |
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