SRI LANKA TOURISM – OPERATIONAL GUIDELINES WITH HEALTH PROTOCOLS

The Novel Corona Virus, which was first identified in late December 2019 and is now known as COVID-19 has rapidly spread globally and painted a picture of public anxiety and a global emergency. This outbreak was identified as a ‘Public Health Emergency of International Concern’ and thereafter declared as a ‘Pandemic’ by the World Health Organization on March 11, 2020.

As at end May 2020, the virus has affected over 200 countries, with more than 6.1 million confirmed cases and over 370,000 reported deaths.

The COVID-19 pandemic instigated lock downs/shut-downs in almost all countries and halted many sea and air port operations bringing the entire world to a standstill. In the backdrop of this heightened uncertainty, health authorities all over the world are relentlessly fighting to control the spread of this deadly virus and to find remedial measures. Globally, countries and economies are struggling to counter adversely impacted industries and livelihoods in general. The tourism industry is undoubtedly one of the worst affected of all major economic sectors.

In Sri Lanka, as a key contributor to the country’s economy, the tourism industry serves multiple purposes. In addition to being the third largest foreign exchange earner for the country, a large number of direct and indirect employment opportunities are created by tourism, while also facilitating inflow of foreign direct investments to the country. In the post-civil war era that started in mid-2009, the tourism sector in Sri Lanka showed clear signs of steady progress and reported an all-time high tourism revenue of USD 4.38 billion in the year 2018. However, the unfortunate Easter Sunday attacks of April 2019 caused heavy damages to the industry, restricting its revenue to USD 3.61 billion in the year 2019. The tourism industry was on a sure and solid path to a speedy recovery, when the unexpected COVID-19 pandemic became the new challenge not only for Sri Lanka, but to the entire global tourism industry. Given the importance of this sector to the national economy of Sri Lanka, it is paramount that tourism activities resume at the earliest, by ensuring all necessary health and safety protocols and procedures are in place.

With the global recognition Sri Lanka has gained by effectively managing and controlling the spread of the COVID-19 within the country, potential travellers and tour groups have already inquired regarding travel into the country. While welcoming such gestures of good faith by tourists, Sri Lanka Tourism realizes the importance of implementing planned, organized and well-structured health protocols when resuming tourism in the country, so as to ensure the safety and good health of all guests, industry stakeholders and the general public.

To achieve the above objective, Sri Lanka Tourism presents these operational guidelines to be followed by all tourism stakeholders. Sri Lanka Tourism, in line with the guidance received from the Ministry of Health (MoH) and the World Health Organization (WHO), have ensured the adoption of right measures to minimize chances of re-entry and/or community spreading of COVID-19 within the country, and to implement those measures in a manner that avoids unnecessary inconvenience to tourists and industry stakeholders. In developing these guidelines, Sri Lanka Tourism also obtained valuable inputs and feedback from all relevant tourism stakeholders, associations and individuals. The guidelines provide a road map with key criteria and steps to be taken for the

‘Safe and Secure’ restoration of tourism activities. The guidelines and procedures are intended to enhance cleanliness and hygiene practices of tourism related venues, services and individuals, where physical distancing, infection prevention and controls were considered as key elements in developing the required health protocols.

The execution of these guidelines will be carried out by the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA) with the cooperation, support and involvement of all stakeholders and other development partners. Further, the SLTDA intends to obtain the services of a reputed independent professional body to assess compliance with the guideline requirements. The establishments and service providers that pass the compliance audits will be awarded a ‘Safe & Secure’ certificate and decals to display in their premises as a mark of trust and assurance to tourists. When tourism resumes, such ‘Safe & Secure’ certified establishments and service providers will be given preference to provide services to foreign travellers.

COVID-19 is a global situation where the medical experts are still on a learning curve to understand how to contain the spread of the virus, let alone eradicating the same. The current thinking of the health experts globally including the WHO, is to co-exist with COVID-19 until an effective vaccine is found and made available, which may take another 12-18 months or more.

Under such circumstances, it is imperative to implement these guidelines together with periodic health related directions and operational updates that will be provided by the Ministry of Health in Sri Lanka. Based on the need, Sri Lanka Tourism too will update the operational guidelines from time to time and all tourism stakeholders will be kept informed about any such revisions.

However, it should be clearly noted that in the event of different and/or conflicting guidelines from Sri Lanka Tourism and Ministry of Health, the stricter interpretation will be applicable.

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