Minister points out, this decision was taken after considering the hardships undergone by nearly 3 million people who are directly and indirectly dependent on the tourism industry. He mentioned this at a discussion held at the Ministry of Mass Media and Information (18) with the heads of media institutions. The meeting was chaired by the Minister of Mass Media Keheliya Rambukwella.
Through the regulatory project initiated on the last 26th of December around 1500 Ukrainian tourists have come to Sri Lanka and from this the country received a revenue of 420 million rupees. Minister confirms that necessary steps have been taken to rectify all the shortcomings and problems identified in the said regulatory project and to bring tourists to the island in accordance with the health guidelines. 180 hotels have been selected to accommodate the tourists and these hotels are certified to follow the safety guidelines. The Tourist Development Authority is issuing the relevant certificate free of charge and the tourists arriving at Sri Lanka after the 21st are set to function as a tourist bubble.
Tourists should be tested with a P.C.R test 72 hours before their arrival and only the ones who are not infected are allowed to enter the country. Moreover, all the tourists arriving on the island will go through another P.C.R test before entering the hotels. They will have to stay at their respective hotels until the results are available. In 5-7 days, these tourists will undergo another PCR test, and only after that they will be able to travel as a tourist bubble through 14 identified tourist zones.
Minister further emphasized that the employees of the hotels that are accommodating the tourists also belong to the abovementioned tourist bubble and they are not allowed to interact with the general public.
Minister requested all the heads of media institutions to consider tourism as a national responsibility and to support the government's program to restart it. He said, “we have a responsibility to protect the civilians from the pandemic and restore the country. Thus, state media, as well as private media, have a significant role to play in this and we need the support of the media in this situation.
Secretary to the Ministry of Mass Media and Information Jagath B. Wijeweera, Secretary of the Ministry of Tourism S. Hettiarachchi, Chairman of the Tourism Development Authority Kimali Fernando, Director General Dhammika Wijesinghe, Director General of Government Information Department Nalaka Kaluwewa and all heads of government electronic and print media were present at this occasion
