'Don't forsake Sri Lanka'

'Don't forsake Sri Lanka.' Thus does The Times' of London defence correspondent, Michael Evans, urge fellow Westerners to visit Sri Lanka as a holiday destination.

Having hugely enjoyed the pleasures this resplendent land offers its visitors, Evans makes this spirited plea in the hope that holiday-seekers of the world would not succumb to the panic, security-related developments usually generate among the ill-informed in some parts of the West and outside.

We recommend Evans' feature article in the 'Daily News' of April 30, on Sri Lanka's ravishing appeal for tourists, as a "must read" by all those who are lured by this country's multidimensional beauty but whose spirits have been dampened by misleading reports on our internal situation.

The points made by Evans are most revelatory and thought-provoking. He makes the vital point that there is a huge difference between the "appearance", as portrayed in some misleading reports about Sri Lanka, and the reality on the ground in the country.

When rumours circulate in the wake of security-linked events in Sri Lanka, misleading impressions about Sri Lanka are formed in the minds of potential tourists.

This prevents them from visiting Sri Lanka. A case in point was the recent LTTE terror attack on the Katunayake airbase which was erroneously reported as an attack on the KIA. This may have deflated tourists' spirits but the factual position is that the KIA was not affected at all.

Evans has done remarkably well to put the record straight about Sri Lanka, but his single and inspiring effort should spur our tourism authorities and related sections to engage in projecting the truth about Sri Lanka to the world as well and very vibrantly so.

As Evans has argued, from a tourism point of view, Sri Lanka is a many-splendoured thing which needs to be actively promoted. The position which needs to be adopted by the State agencies is that except for the North-East, the rest of the country is safe for tourism. In fact the truth of the matter is that the Security Forces have successfully beaten back Tiger terror attacks, thus leaving the regions outside the North-East safe for travel and leisure.

There is a challenge here for the State agencies concerned. Not only must Sri Lanka be promoted as the dream destination of tourists, but the factual security situation also needs to be projected to the world outside.

That is, the country is safe for visiting, except for the North-East. In other words, the world's perceptions of this country should be made to correspond to reality. If this is done effectively, not only could Sri Lankan tourism be helped but the LTTE's disinformation campaign resoundingly defeated.

The State is doing well to keep the international community informed about the factual situation in Sri Lanka, as far as security issues go, but it also needs to be pointed out to the world that it would be helping to defeat LTTE terror by portraying Sri Lanka as an ideal tourist destination.

The example of the British authorities needs to be followed in this context. In their travel advisories the British authorities point out that except for North-East Sri Lanka, the rest of the country could be considered safe for tourism. The rest of the world community should follow suit, if disinformation on Sri Lanka is to be defeated.