Sri Lanka safe for tourists

Ginny McGrath

UK: The Sri Lanka Tourist Board said Galle was safe despite the LTTE terrorist attack on Wednesday. Galle is home to around 500 British expatriates and is popular with tourists owing to its UNESCO World heritage protected fort.

Sri Lanka Tourist Board UK Director, Jean-Marc Flambert sent an email to leading UK travel companies telling them that he was in Sri Lanka and that the region was safe for tourists.

"All has returned to normal," he said.

The majority of violent incidents associated with the Tigers are in the North and East. The attack in the south has been acknowledged by the Foreign Commonwealth Office (FCO) which is not discouraging Britons from visiting the areas.

The Association of British Travel Agents (ABTA) has also played down the incident. A spokesman told Times Online Travel that the numbers of Britons currently visiting Sri Lanka, where the peak season for tourists is December, would be in the 1000's.

He said: "We have not had any calls from our members or from the public about the situation in Sri Lanka." Explore, an adventure travel company, has two tour groups in Sri Lanka. Founding director Derek Moore says the company was saddened by the news of the attacks but says the tours will continue, although the situation will be monitored.

He added that Explore has been organising trips to Sri Lanka for over 15 years, taking in excess of 600 passengers to Sri Lanka annually, and wants to continue supporting the country.