The Easter Sunday massacre causes the world travellers to refresh their thought “is it safe to travel to Sri Lanka?”. According to the information, the attack was masterminded by ISIS and this attack was their very first show on Sri Lankan people. However, with a successful campaign, the government has cleared the risk of another such attack in Sri Lanka.
Is it safe to travel to Sri Lanka?
Unfortunately, Sri Lanka has become a victim of international terrorism for the first time in its history with Easter Sunday (21.04.2019) attacks in several churches and hotels. This has been the first terrorist attack took place on the island since 2009, ending of the Sri Lankan civil war. The incidents had been a big blow to the tourism industry and made international travellers raise the questions like “is it safe to travel to Sri Lanka?”, “is Sri Lanka a safe holiday destination?”.
Is it safe to travel to Sri Lanka at the wake of fast-spreading coronavirus?
Tourism is badly hit by the coronavirus and it will halt tourist arriving Sri Lanka from China and all other leading tourist sources of Sri Lanka. Due to the fast-spreading of the coronavirus, the travellers from most other countries also have postponed their tours to Sri Lanka. Therefore, Sri Lanka will also see the negative impact on the islands tourism industry due to coronavirus. However, Sri Lanka has been able to contain the virus very effectively compared to most other countries around the world. The fatality rate is a very low level in Sri Lanka and by July Sri Lanka people has been able to start their routine life.
Since July no patients were diagnosed with coronavirus within the island. In the meantime, the government of Sri Lanka has taken further measures to prevent the future spreading of the disease on the island and special medical teams, as well as hospitals, are ready to treat the patients, who have coronavirus.
Sri Lanka north-east civil war
The island was in a turmoil from 1983 to 2009 due to the unceasing terrorist attacks, however, there had not been any attacks targeting foreign travellers during that period. Only the local people were affected due to the terrorist attacks.
The civil war brewed on the island mainly in north and east of Sri Lanka was ended in 2009, after a successful campaign of Sri Lankan army. Since the end of the civil war, the people of Sri Lankan enjoyed the peace and stability on the island and Sri Lanka was one of the safest holiday destinations in the world.
Easter Sunday bomb 2019
The easter massacre causes the world travellers to refresh their thought “is it safe to travel to Sri Lanka?“. According to the information, the attack was masterminded by ISIS and this attack was their very first show on Sri Lankan people. However, after a few months since the catastrophic event, Sri Lankan civil life is back on track and tri-forces have been able to make sure the safety of people. According to the information the forces have apprehended a large number of terrorist and the terror network is dismantled.
After the attack, many countries have issued travel advisories to their citizens against travelling in Sri Lanka, However, those travel advisories have been removed now. China is the country, which took the first move to endorse the safety of Sri Lanka to travellers after the Easter Sunday attack. And all the other countries removed the travel advisories subsequently. The attack had been a big blow to Sri Lanka’s tourism industry and felt across all sectors of the industry.
The tourist arrivals are on the rise and industry experts believe that the industry will be fully recovered after about 1 year. A large number of charter flights that stopped their operation due to the deteriorated security on the island have started their flights to the country and started to bring travellers again. However, hotel rates and flight tickets are still sold on discounted rates in order to woo the travellers to the country.
According to the experts in the tourism industry easter, Sunday attack was negligible event compared the civil war existed in the northern part of Sri Lanka. The devastating effect of 30 years civil was much-greater than the effect of the Easter Sunday attack.
Is it safe to travel to Sri Lanka after ester attack?
Is it safe to travel to Sri Lanka now? It is a question that we answer very often because most travellers head to Sri Lanka inquire about their safety, when they plan a Sri Lanka trip, especially after the multiple bomb attack on April 2019. In the wake of increasing political disturbances and terrorist attacks around the world, most travellers are very concern about their safety while they travel.
Easter Sunday attack on the island of Sri Lanka was another attempt of a militant group to disturb the peaceful life of Sri Lanka and same times pass a message to the world that ISIS is still active at the wake of their defeat in Syria. But the Sri Lankan army had been able to crack the terror network a large number of followers of the Muslim militant were apprehended.
If someone asks “is it safe to travel to Sri Lanka?” The answer is YES, it is totally safe to travel to Sri Lanka now. As many countries in the region suffered from political instability, terrorist attacks, civil unrest pose threat to the travellers, Sri Lanka provides the most secure environment for a peaceful holiday within its borders. In fact, Sri Lanka had been one of the safest holiday destinations in the world. That’s why Sri Lanka was able to attract nearly 3 million tourists in 2019. The tourists can travel to any part of the island without any fear now.
Sri Lanka was a safe country for foreign travellers even in the past and there were no terrorist attacks targeting foreign travellers. But, less than a decade ago, a large number of travellers refrain from travelling to Sri Lanka due to the travel advisories issued by many countries around the world. The main reason for the travel advisory was the political unrest prevailed in the north and east Sri Lanka.
The effect of northern political unrest felt in the rest of the country with occasional terrorist attacks. But the tourists were never targeted in these attacks. Even after ending the political unrest in 2009, still, some tourists have doubt about safety.
The civil war, which started in 1983, was ended in 2009. The war and rumours in foreign countries kept a large number of intimidated travellers kept away from the island. The island was visited around 500000 tourists a year during the war.
The number of foreign tourist in several rebel-held areas in northern and eastern Sri Lanka was not safe to travel. Therefore a number of travellers in the north and east Sri Lankan was very negligible. The pristine beaches and historical and important religious sites were isolated for more than 30 years.
Tourism industry severely hindered by the civil war
The terrorist had been the main reason for the underperformance of the tourism industry in the country and the island was visited only around 500000 tourists a year during the war. Even though only the north and eastern parts of the island was not suitable for travellers during the civil war, a large number of traveller refrained from travelling to Sri Lanka, mainly due to the unnecessary fear created by the false rumours around the world, especially in European countries. However, it is a well-known fact that none of the foreign travellers was died due to the civil war.
End of travel advisories
After ending the war in the north and east the tourist traffic started to move in the direction of northern Sri Lanka because it was safe and most importantly it was a new territory to explore. As all the rebel-controlled areas came under the government control entire country had become a safe holiday destination in the world. Since then all countries around the world withdrew their travel advisories that issued against Sri Lanka.
As the governments around the world issued the green light again for its travellers, the island is becoming a holiday hot-spot in Asia again. According to the information, the hotel reservations are started to roll in for the coming winter season, which is a sign of quick recovery from the devastating effect of the massacre.
Tourism development with ending the civil war
Since the end of the civil war, now there is a remarkable development in the tourism sector. Large numbers of hotels were built within the last few years and big players such as Shangri-La are among the companies, who invested in the island.
The most noteworthy change was seen in the north and east of Sri Lanka. With the opening of north and east to travellers after more than 30 years, a large number of foreign and well as local travellers started to head on to these unexplored areas, creating a massive demand for tourism-related services. Therefore a large number of hotels, restaurants and many other accommodation providing institutions bubbled up, making it a new source of income for people in the area.
All in all, it is very safe to travel to Sri Lanka, but there are few areas in the north and east coast of Sri Lanka, where you need to be careful while travelling. This is mainly due to land mines. During the 30 years of civil war, a large number of landmines were buried in some parts of northern and eastern Sri Lanka.
The mine clearance was carried out for many years, after the war by the Sri Lankan government forces and many non-governmental organizations, but still, there are few areas that are not cleared yet. So, if you happened to travel to remote areas of northern and eastern Sri Lanka it is highly advisable not to penetrate unclear woods.
Sri Lanka is safe to travel-USA
Today Sri Lanka is a very safe holiday destination in the world and the island is ranked among the best places to live in the region. In fact, Sri Lanka is the best country to live in South Asian countries. Recently federal Bureau of America affirms the safety of Sri Lanka to its citizen by lowering the risk level to its minimum level on par with most peaceful countries around the world.
Guardian and travel trend 2 of the most trusted travel magazines in the world has identified Sri Lanka as one of the top holiday destinations to travel in the world. They have considered many factors in deciding these 10 destinations while safety was one of the key factors.
Despite the 30 years, the civil war ended in April 2009 and Easter Sunday attack in 2019 Sri Lanka had been able to earn many international accolades in the recent past. Some of them are very prestigious international accolades and which is a clear sign of Sri Lanka’s fast recovery from the devastating attacks.