Statement by HE Rohitha Bogollagama, High Commissioner of Sri Lanka to the United Kingdom to the Advisory Council of Sri Lanka’s Interests (ACSLI) on the travel advisories on Sri Lanka
HE Rohitha Bogollagama, High Commissioner of Sri Lanka to the United Kingdom made the following statement to the Advisory Council of Sri Lanka’s Interests (ACSLI) of the High Commission on the travel advisories on Sri Lanka on 25 October 2024.
“Today I thought of having the first Advisory Council Meeting under the new administration of His Excellency Anura Kumara Dissanayake, President of Sri Lanka. One of the items I thought of reflecting at the meeting is the issuance of Travel Advisories on Sri Lanka by six countries i.e. US, UK, Russia, Australia, Isreal, New Zealand. In terms of the substance, relevance and the nature of the Advisories, we find that these advisories are limited, in the wider interest of Israelis, and authored by the US and echoed by key countries such as UK, Australia and New Zealand. The substance direct more on the Israeli line, the Israeli interests and the visitors and that of the locations which the Israeli reside. Unfortunately, these advisories have received wide publication and publicity as these have been broadcasted on US media.
By the time these advisories have been released, the Government of Sri Lanka has taken the necessary steps under the administration of President Dissanayake to ensure the safety of the tourists. The Government had been made aware through intelligence of the threats directed at the Israelis visiting Sri Lanka and has taken all possible measures to cover these locations, in a proactive manner, for the wider interest of the international community.
The Government has been alerted before the Advisories came in and they have taken meaningful steps to strengthen the security in the areas that have been identified. Arrests have been made of three suspects in this connection. The Government has assured the international community and the Embassies that full measures have been taken to ensure the security of the tourists.
Furthermore, these Advisories have also mentioned about Arugam Bay prominently when in fact the Arugam Bay season has ended. Today, it is not a place anyone is frequenting as such. These Advisories are the actions taken by the countries concerned on theoretical precautions, out of their duty bound requirement to their citizens. Therefore, we have to look at it as a limited warning for their citizens.
In the last two days, I have been in touch with the relevant authorises in Colombo. We had a similar gathering here yesterday with the tourism fraternity at the High Commission. Everyone has shown resolute interest and they have not been taken aback in terms of these advisories. So that’s a positive side of the matter. In my opinion, when I consulted about fourteen tour operators whom I met yesterday, all echoed hardly any concerns. The tour operators are looking forward to the World Travel Mart (WTM) commencing on 5th November 2024, which is to be attended by 105 representatives of the travel and tourism industry in Sri Lanka.”
The members of the Advisory Council endorsed these sentiments and agreed that hardly any impact has been made by these Advisories except the fact that it has given wider publicity and coverage to Sri Lanka. Mr Chinthaka Weerasinghe, Regional Manager- Europe and Americas, Sri Lankan Airlines joined in explaining that the Airline reservations have not had any impact as a result of these Advisories.
High Commission of Sri Lanka
25 October 2024
