Skift Take

The peak tourism season in Sri Lanka starts in November. The country is reopening tourism slowly for now, and is catering to luxury travelers in high-end hotels where cleaning regimes are said to be the most rigorous.

Sri Lanka plans to reopen its tourism sector in mid-June by allowing only small groups of visitors to begin with, a local newspaper quoted a senior tourism ministry official as saying.

A limited number of small groups from around the world would be allowed to visit and stay in approved five-star hotels that have put strict safety measures in place, Tourism Ministry Secretary S. Hettiaarachchi said, according to a report in the Sunday Times.

“The tourists will be required to carry a COVID-19-free certificate issued either by their governments or a reputed agency,” he said, adding that tourists would also need to wait on arrival at the airport for coronavirus testing.

Individual travellers will still not be allowed to enter the country for now. The official did not mention how many people in a group could visit.

Sri Lanka reported another 20 cases of the virus on Saturday, taking the total number of cases so far to 1,613, including 10 deaths.

The country attracted around 2 million tourists last year and the sector contributes around 11% to the nation’s gross domestic product.

The Sunday Times said President Rajapaksa had discussed the proposals at a meeting on May 19 with representatives of the tourism industry.

The main tourist season typically begins in around November.

If the government approves the plan, Bandaranaike International Airport and Mattala International Airport, which have been closed under coronavirus restrictions, would partially reopen. Testing facilities would be set up at the airports and private hospitals are expected to provide assistance to tourists as part of the plans, according to the newspaper report.

“The tourists will not be allowed to get off buses midway (between journeys) and will be able only to visit selected destinations where they could avoid crowds,” Hettiaarachchi said.

Popular sites such as the Yala national park, Udawalawe, Arugam Bay, Trincomalee and selected beach areas would be among those open for the tourists, whose temperatures would be monitored daily, the report said.

(Reporting by Waruna Karunatilake in Colombo; Editing by Zeba Siddiqui and Susan Fenton)

This article was from Reuters and was legally licensed through the NewsCred publisher network. Please direct all licensing questions to [email protected].

smartphone

The Daily Newsletter

Our daily coverage of the global travel industry. Written by editors and analysts from across Skift’s brands.

Have a confidential tip for Skift? Get in touch

Tags: airports, coronavirus, groups, hotels, luxury, sri lanka

Photo credit: Pictured is a file photo of KK Beach hotel on Habaraduwa Beach in Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka officials are bringing back tourism slowly in small groups at luxury hotels. Srilankacollection.com

Up Next

Loading next stories