The INDEPENDENT

Peace dawn sees rapid jump in tourist arrivals in Lanka - The Independent

Walter Jayawardhana

The Independent newspaper has reported that the dawn of peace in Sri Lanka has resulted in a rapid jump of the number of tourists coming to the country- leap that officials say represents part of the peace dividend.

Quoting the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority the report said' tourist arrivals in July increased by 28 percent from a year ago, the second straight rise since May.

The report by Andrew BunCombe said: "The end of Sri Lanka's bitter civil war has seen a rapid jump in the number of tourists visiting the island - a leap that officials say represents part of the peace dividend. Tourist arrivals in July increased by 28 percent from a year ago, the second straight rise since May.

"This is mainly due to the peace situation in the country, S Kalaiselvam, Director General at the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority, told Reuters. We are confident of achieving at least similar to last year figure and revenue. Our target is to get 2.5 million tourists and $2.5 billion revenue in 2016.

"Tourism has long been a key source of revenue for Sri Lanka, which enjoys no fewer than seven UNESCO World Heritage sites, and plenty of idyllic beaches. But the trade was badly hit, first by 2004 devastating tsunami, and then by the reignition of the decades-long civil war a little more than a year later.

Since then much of the North of the country has been off-limits to visitors, and the capital, Colombo, has been under threat from suicide bombings.

But the war finally ended in May this year after Government troops routed the last remnants of the once powerful Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam and killed their leader, Velupillai Prabhakaran, and now it appears that Westerners are beginning to return. In an effort to encourage the resurgence in visitors, the Government recently announced a major new 4,000-acre tourist development 100 miles north of Colombo at Kalpitiya."