500 German tourists to visit SL

Around 500 German tourists are scheduled to arrive in the country this month under the pilot project initiated in preparation for opening up the country for tourism at the end of this month, an official said yesterday.

Tourism Ministry Secretary S. Hettiarachchi told Daily Mirror it had been planned to bring more than 2,000 tourists from Ukraine alone, and 500 of them had already landed in the country. He said the Government would proceed with the programme despite initial shortcomings in adherence to health guidelines.

According to him, some problems have been triggered by lack of communication.

“There were plans to bring tourists from Russia. But, the tour operators could not plan in time due to the delay in getting health guidelines,” he said. Commenting on Ukrainian tourists not following safety precautions, he said it would be corrected in the future.

“We had a meeting with the health authorities. We have received separate guidelines to be followed when taking these Ukrainian nationals to designated places such as Sigiriya, Sinharaja, Peradeniya Botanical Garden and Dalada Maligawa. Locals will not be totally barred from these places when tourists are present. Instead, they will be asked to maintain distance with tourists,” he said (Kelum Bandara)