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Unexpected travel advisory review by Australia rattles tourism industry stakeholders
Tourists at Independence Memorial Hall in Colombo
PIC BY PRADEEP PATHIRANA
- Aussie govt. urges its citizens to exercise high degree of caution when visiting Sri Lanka
- Despite review, travel advisory on Sri Lanka maintained at same level
- SLTDA and Economic Affairs Division of Foreign Ministry say review is sudden and unexpected
- Efforts being made to find out what prompted sudden review
By Shabiya Ali Ahlam
In a surprise move, the Australian government has reviewed its travel advisory on Sri Lanka, where it urges its citizens to exercise a high degree of caution when visiting the island nation.
However, it did not change the level of its advice, which is currently at two. There are four levels of travel advisories, the first being ‘exercise normal safety precaution’ and the fourth being ‘do not travel’.
“We advise to exercise a high degree of caution in Sri Lanka due to the threat of public demonstrations, shortages of some imported medicine and security risks,” the Australian government said in its latest update on August 10.
It noted that public demonstrations can occur throughout Sri Lanka and may become violent, therefore avoid the areas impacted by the demonstrations.
In recent weeks, Sri Lanka has witnessed multiple public demonstrations. However, these have not reached the magnitude of the mass protests that occurred last year.
Speaking to Mirror Business, the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA) noted that the update is unexpected, given that the situation in the country has returned to a great degree of normalcy.
“It is the responsibility of governments to advise their citizens when travelling out of the country to ensure their safety. They may have felt the need to advise their citizens to be cautious when exploring and be better equipped with the necessary medicine,” said SLTDA Chairman Priantha Fernando.
“However, the situation in Sri Lanka at present is not what it was during the economic and political crisis witnessed last year. If there is any threat to our international visitors, we will be the first to notify, as we have done before. The safety and wellbeing of tourists is always a priority for us at Sri Lanka Tourism,” he added.
The SLTDA yesterday wrote to the Foreign Affairs Ministry to look into the review of the travel advisory from Australia and address the same.
The officials of the Economic Affairs Division of the Foreign Ministry said they too are surprised by the unexpected review and are unsure what prompted the new update.
We have contacted our mission in Australia. Before we counter the review, we want to find out as to why the update was made. We await an update from the mission to get the full picture, after which we will start our discussions,” shared Economic Affairs Division Director General Chandana Weerasena.
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