SL’s ‘Wonder of Asia’ image strongly intact
Sri Lanka, one of the safest destinations:
Shirajiv SIRIMANE
The incident in Tangalle where a tourist was killed will not have any
negative impact on the Sri Lankan tourism industry as the government has
taken action to minimize the impact of the incident.
Sri Lanka Tourism chairman Dr Nalaka Godahewa said authorities acted
swiftly and in less than 48 hours, all suspects were taken into custody.
“There was no cover-up and transparency was maintained at all times,
despite a politician being involved,” he said.
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Dr Godahewa
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“The female Russian injured in the incident is warded at a private
hospital in Colombo. All hospital expenses will be looked into,” Dr
Godahewa said. The chairman said through their foreign missions, the
victims’ relatives were informed.
“Both, the Russian and British embassies were happy about the
government acting swiftly. Officials of the two embassies also visited
the Russian victim in hospital,” Dr Godahewa said. He said incidents of
this nature happen everywhere and despite this incident, Sri Lanka
remains one of the safest destinations.
“Even in developed countries, one could see tourists being robbed,
mugged and even murdered. Even a Sri Lankan was stabbed to death in
London recently.”
Dr Godahewa said the Defence Ministry with the assistance of the
Tourism Ministry will launch a series of programmes to get the public
involved in looking after the interests of tourists and also
safeguarding them.
Meanwhile, Sparklink Travels (Pvt) Ltd chairman Nihal Perera said at
a time when Sri Lanka is emerging as a favoured destination for holiday,
with several foreign visitors making unprecedented arrivals of over
800,000, it is likely that some of the foreign media may tarnish the
image of Sri Lanka over the isolated incident at a hotel in Tangalle.
“Steps should be taken by Sri Lanka Tourism with the support of Sri
Lanka media to counter any damaging media reports internationally and to
assure all prospective visitors to visit Sri Lanka without changing to
their holiday programmes,” he said.
“All our missions abroad should be requested to inform the foreign
media that the incident in Tangalle is an isolated one and that all
visitors to Sri Lanka could be assured that visits to Sri Lanka are
safe, and that the government, together with Sri Lanka Tourism is giving
assurances to all prospective visitors to Sri Lanka that Sri Lanka is
the ‘Wonder of Asia’ and will ensure all visitors enjoy a peaceful and
happy holiday in Sri Lanka,” he said.
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