Importance of maintaining current health protocols for tourists highlighted 

The Sri Lanka Association of Inbound Tour Operators (SLAITO) and Tourist Hotel Association of Sri Lanka (THASL) in a statement yesterday highlighted the importance of maintaining the current health protocols for the industry to recover in light of the discovery of a new COVID-19 variant, which made a number of countries to scramble to strengthen border controls and slap even tighter virus control guidelines. 

“Any change to the current health protocols will be detrimental to the tourism industry and it will have a negative impact on the overall economy of the country. Therefore SLAITO and THASL request the government to maintain the current status quo pertaining to health protocols that applies to foreign passport holders visiting Sri Lanka,” the joint statement said.

It further said due to the flexible and easier health protocols that were implemented by the government it was possible to attract  tourist during the last three months an there is a positive trend with the arrivals to Sri Lanka increasing month on month.

“If the trend continues from December to April during the current winter season, the tourism industry is predicting that there will be 400,000 tourists arriving in the country from November 21 to April 22,” it said.

“The tour operators have recommenced their programmes to Sri Lanka mainly due to the practical health protocols which were introduced by the government. At this stage it is vital to continue with the current health protocols which will encourage tour operators and the airlines to promote the destination with confidence.  If the country is available to attract 400,000 tourists in the next five months it is estimated to generate US$ 600, 000, 000,” the statement added. It further pointed out that there are one million people who are directly and indirectly engaged in the tourism industry and it benefits 2.5 million citizens of the country.