• Says negotiating with Governments to get the adverse travel advisories reversed

Newly appointed Deputy Minister of Tourism Vasantha Senanayake yesterday said that the Government has been working to get the adverse travel advisories issued by a number of western countries revised, insisting the country’s current political instability has had zero impact on the tourism industry.

“The tour agencies and operators insist that there has been zero impact and no cancellations,” he said, speaking at a press briefing held yesterday at the Prime Minister’s Office.

Senanayake said that the Ministry is in discussion with the Governments who have already issued travel advisories to reverse the move. “I think as every day passes that some of the Governments that were initially given an incorrect picture are beginning to see what the ground situation actually is and that this country is safe. There is nothing unsafe about this country; this country has always been rich with political struggles, that’s the nature of Sri Lanka,” he said.

Returning from London following the World Travel Mart, he said that there was a lot of enthusiasm about Sri Lanka as a destination.

“I have just returned from World Travel Market in London and I was pleased to say that a lot of the participants there were very confident that what was happening in Sri Lanka doesn’t affect the lives of ordinary Sri Lankans, nor does it affect the lives of tourists in any sense,” he said.

“What we are having is a bit of a political tussle, and political tussles will be resolved in Parliament in the most democratic way. This shouldn’t reflect on the tourism industry or in any other sense; this is a vibrant democracy at work.”

Source : http://www.ft.lk/front-page/No-impact-on-Tourism-Industry–Vasantha/44-666580