Sri Lanka safe to visit

The Sri Lankan Government has declared the war-torn country a safe place to visit.

"As far as I am concerned there is no issue," said Faiszer Musthapha MP, Deputy Minister of Tourism, Sri Lanka.

"The airlines have resumed their services and so that answers the question, ‘is it safe?'. Emirates Airline would not fly to Sri Lanka if it thought the place unsafe."

He was speaking after Dubai's national carrier temporarily suspended its services to Colombo following a rebel air strike around the troubled island's capital earlier this week.

However, this did not stop the Deputy Minister and a large contingent of representatives from Sri Lanka's travel and tourism industry from flying to Dubai on Tuesday to take part in Arabian Travel Market (ATM) at the Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC) where they will remain until Friday.

"No one thought we would come, but we proved them wrong," said Musthapha.

"The media is presenting bad news about Sri Lanka, but our strategy is to counteract that and give the good news."

He emphasised that tourists were not impacted by the destructive activities of the Tamil Tiger rebels and said the government's plan was to promote some of Sri Lanka's unique attractions during this period of strife.

"We offer everything from beaches to tea plantations, and from white water rafting to wellness and spa packages; we also offer value for money," he said.

Attracting more visitors from the "high-yield" Middle East market was a key objective, Musthapha added.

With this in mind, Sri Lanka has doubled the size of its stand at this year's ATM, with 25 countries exhibiting compared to 16 last year.

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