Sri Lanka appeals international community to lift travel warnings

Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena has appealed to the international community to lift travel warnings issued after the Easter Sunday attacks. 

In a meeting with the diplomatic community in Colombo yesterday, the President said that tourists are returning to Sri Lanka. He urged the foreign missions to eliminate hurdles preventing others from visiting the country. 

India, United States, China, UK and Australia are among the countries which



issued travel warnings after Easter attacks. 

Sri Lanka’s tourism board earlier said that tourist arrivals have gone down by 60 per cent. India is the largest source of tourists for Sri Lanka as around 4 Lakh 50 thousand Indians visited the country last year. 

Sri Lanka received 2.3 million tourists from around the world in 2018 and has set up a target of 3 million for this year.