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Government sources have described as "journalistic opportunism" recent reports that the Sri Lankan tourism industry has been adversely affected by recent LTTE bomb blasts, quoting figures reflecting substantial earnings from tourism during 1994 to 1999. The
Tourism Industry, Sri Lanka's fourth highest foreign exchange earner,
recorded an income of Rs80 billion during the five years. Officials said however that while there is no question that Tiger activity throughout the country is having some effect on tourist arrivals, tourists have been very "resilient" in their attitude to the Sri Lankan situation, with figures showing overall growth for the period. Officials
pointed out that certain
recent reports have misrepresented the
success of the tourism industry, when during the five years to 1999
immense development took place as a result of the government's emphasis on
infrastructure programs. The government has also declared tourism as a
"thrust industry," and has given a series of concessions and relief
measures to assist the industry. Sri Lanka
attracts more tourists than any other South Asian destination, including India, Nepal,
Pakistan and Bangladesh. Construction
of more hotels have begun to accommodate the increasing influx of tourists,
who are demanding better entertainment and recreation facilities and more
shopping.
This is
could be described as a very encouraging approach to Sri Lankan tourism when compared to the period 1984-1994
in which hotel
construction was static, officials said. According to Tourism Ministry officials, adverse incidents have been highlighted by some media organsiations to mar the image of the country. "This is journalistic opportunism at its worst," one official said. "Ignoring the overall situation, they'll use any temporary setback as an excuse to whack the government."
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