US revises Travel Advisory on SL to lowest risk level
United States has amended travel advisory level on Sri Lanka to level one, placing Sri Lanka as a safe country to visit. As per the change announced via the US Department of State Bureau of Consular Affairs website, Sri Lanka has been classified under level one which advises US travelers to ‘excise normal precautions’.
Level 1 is the lowest tier of four tier graded system and according to the US Department of State Bureau of Consular Affairs website, states ‘This is the lowest advisory level for safety and security risk. There is some risk in any international travel. Conditions in other countries may differ from those in the United States and may change at any time’.
Sri Lanka has been placed with nations such as Australia, Singapore and Switzerland in the level 1. However, countries such as India and Maldives were listed as Level 2, which carries a ‘Exercise increased caution.’ Warning. Especially for India it states, “Exercise increased caution in India due to crime and terrorism. Some areas have increased risk” and for Maldives stating, ‘“Exercise increased caution in Maldives due to terrorism.”
US unveiled the new coded system for travel advisory along with an interactive map which color codes countries according to risk level. Any traveler can now view the map from here. Sri Lanka was also previously listed as a Level 2 travel advisory by the US, similar to countries such as UK, France and India.
OSL TAKE
The revising of the travel advisory level is a major positive for Sri Lanka. This signals that Sri Lanka is now being viewed as much safer destination for US travelers and as Sri Lanka for years has managed to gain the attention of the US travelers, a boom in the tourism can be expected. Also, this will assist Sri Lanka to portray itself in a much more positive light in the eyes of the investors as well, particularly given a tourist hotspot such as Maldives only being given a level 2.
This presents a opportunity for Sri Lanka to capitalize in an ultra-competitive tourism market and has the potential to bring long term benefits such as traveler confidence in the country.
| Article Code : | VBS/AT/20181022/Z_3 |