News
Rapid recovery from devastation gives confidence to visitors
International visitors are voicing admiration for Sri Lanka’s rapid infrastructure repairs, signalling resilience in the tourism sector following the cyclone devastation.
Tourists accounts of restoration in key areas like Anuradhapura, Sigiriya and eastern rail lines are boosting confidence and encouraging bookings into the high season, but tour agents on the other hand point to lower new booking due to travel alerts.
Road access to all the important tourist attractions was restored by the end of last week, according to the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLDA).
Trains between Badulla and Ambewela were to resume Saturday. The Railway Department website announced services allowing tourists to experience the popular train ride just three weeks after the cyclone. Also announced was the resumption of the Colombo-Trincomallee train.
Rediscover Sri Lanka, a small tour company catering to Dutch tourists, was concerned of low bookings as the Dutch government advised a high degree of caution as with UK, Australia, and Canada. “This negatively affects the Dutch market which was among the top 15 source markets,” said Rediscover Sri Lanka chief Rasith Gunarathna.
A manager of a tour company handling Germans, noted the lack of new bookings for the new year. German tourists accounted for 7% of visitors by mid December, with more than 140,000 arrivals.
As the Christmas peak approaches, tourist endorsements could offset UK and Canadian advisories, emphasising Sri Lanka’s safe, restored hotspots.
SLTDA expects daily arrivals surpassing last year’s by mid-January.
According to SLTDA website 2024/2025 year-on-year percentage change of monthly tourist arrival for December could be less than the average of 17.53 for the first 11 months of 2025.
Tourists in the meantime shared their views on why they didn’t want to cancel tours.
“We booked our December trip to Sri Lanka at the end of November, and only two days later we heard the news about the cyclone and the devastating consequences to the country. Initially, we were really unsure about what to do, as the impact to the tourist industry was very unclear. We didn’t want to cancel the trip so close to departure, not only because we may not be able to get any refund for the money we had already paid, but also since we would not be able to organise any alternative trip at last minute,” said Luke Hespanhol of Australia.
A group of tourists in Anuradhapura
“However, we could probably have cancelled, if we really no longer wanted to come — after all, we have travel insurance and could probably have recovered at least part of the expenses. But then, we realised that cancelling would be the absolutely worst thing we could have done for the people of Sri Lanka: they had already lost so much due to the cyclone, and now they would also lose the money we as tourists would be injecting into their economy. So we decided to push ahead.
“My wife and I made our booking to travel to Sri Lanka in March. We have travelled to many countries also in Asia and wanted very much to come to Sri Lanka. We were watching the news and the unfolding catastrophe in the country. I asked my friend Sarah who booked our holiday as to what we should do and her answer was straightforward and clear. “Please visit the country. It is the only way you can help it,’’ said Jonathan Hardy of New Zealand.
“I didn’t not think twice and realised that if I want to help the country I shouldn’t cancel it,’’ said Anja Buchegger.
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