United States further eases travel advisory issued on Sri Lanka
The United States has further eased the travel advisory issued on Sri Lanka following the Easter Sunday attacks on several churches and hotels in the country.
The Level 3 travel advisory issued on 26 April, which advised American citizens to reconsider traveling to the country “due to serious risks to safety and security” has been downgraded to Level 2 advising US citizens to “exercise increased caution” in Sri Lanka due to terrorism.
The US Department of State has also lifted the ordered departure status of family members of US government employees under the age of 18 as well as the authorised departure status of non-emergency US government employees and family members.
This was announced in the US State Department website.
“Terrorists may attack with little or no warning, targeting tourist locations, transportation hubs, markets, shopping malls, government facilities, hotels, clubs, restaurants, places of worship, parks, major sporting and cultural events, educational institutions, airports, hospitals, and other public areas,” the revised advisory has stated.
OSL take:
All countries that imposed travel advisories on Sri Lanka after the Easter Sunday attacks have revised their advisories, including India, China, UK, Germany and Switzerland. The relaxing of travel advisories on Sri Lanka has resulted in the return of tourists to Sri Lanka. Several international airlines have also announced the resumption of flights to Colombo. Sri Lankan tourism authorities have also launched several promotional campaigns to woo tourists to the country. The government of Sri Lanka has introduced a relief programme to the tourism industry to help its revival, which has resulted in tourism stakeholders upgrading their facilities to prepare for the increase in tourist arrivals to the country expected towards the latter part of the year. Therefore, foreign businesses/investors could confidently explore business/investment opportunities in Sri Lanka, especially in the tourism sector.
| Article Code : | VBS/AT/26062019/Z_5 |