By Madhusha Thavapalakumar Sri Lanka’s sustained diplomatic push to have international travel advisories lifted has borne fruit, with several countries set to relax its travel warnings before the end of this week, following China's lead. According to Minister of Tourism Development, Wildlife, and Christian Religious Affairs John Amaratunga, several countries had made such assurances, which he refused to name. “Before the end of the month, there will be several relaxations. I cannot tell you which countries. They don’t want us to divulge anything,” he said, speaking to The Sunday Morning Business on Wednesday (22). On Saturday (26th) the Chinese government relaxed its travel advisory on Sri Lanka from ‘Do not travel to Sri Lanka’, which was one of the most severe advisories of all countries, to ‘be cautious’. Meanwhile, Ministry of Foreign Affairs Secretary Ravinatha Aryasinha stated that his ministry is pressing foreign missions in Sri Lanka for a “proportionate revision” of travel advisories issued following the Easter Sunday attacks. “All that the Foreign Ministry can do is to lobby foreign ministries of other countries through our ambassadors and request them to change the advisories. We have to show them that normalcy has been restored and that the country is safe for travel,” he informed The Sunday Morning Business on Friday (24). However, when inquired if there would be any relaxations this week as stated by Minister Amaratunga, Aryasinha said he was not in a position to confirm this, but that it was possible the Minister was privy to information which he himself was not, as he had just returned to Sri Lanka from the US after discussing the current situation with the US Government. Speaking on this matter, Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau (SLTPB) Chairman Kishu Gomes told us that discussions were held with the foreign missions, consulates, and embassies in Sri Lanka with the participation of tourism authorities. “Missions and embassies told they would consider relaxing the advisories since the security situation in the country is improving,” Gomes assured. However, he refused to name any mission which considers removing the advisory as almost all the missions that issued travel advisories consider relaxing them, according to Gomes. Speaking further on the advisories, Aryasinha stated that the incident which threw the country into devastation on 21 April does not deserve such strong travel advisories. He added that the decision to lift advisories has to be taken by the respective countries and, therefore, he could not disclose a time period within when the advisories are expected to be removed. He also noted that once one country proportionately revises its advisories issued on Sri Lanka, other countries would also tend to follow the same step. “I believe political leaders will pressure the missions because in some countries, they have put the restriction on official visits as well. Then the issue will be on their side as to why they are not doing it,” he said. The US Embassy in Sri Lanka updated their travel warning on 16 May, following the communal unrest the country went through three weeks after the attacks, with a “Level 3” advisory. The advisory read: “Terrorists may attack with little or no warning, targeting tourist locations, transportation hubs, markets, shopping malls, hotels, clubs, restaurants, places of worship, parks, airports, hospitals, and other public areas.” The US is one of the top 10 tourism generating markets of Sri Lanka and the country saw over 75,000 US tourists in 2018. The Canadian Embassy in Sri Lanka too updated their travel advisory following the unrest in parts of the North Western Province of the country, advising its nationals to “avoid non-essential travel”. Canada contributed with over 52,000 tourists in 2018. Meanwhile, the Indian High Commission in Sri Lanka’s travel advisory issued a week after the Easter Sunday attacks and has not been removed yet. The advisory says to the Indian nationals intending to travel to Sri Lanka to not undertake non-essential travel. India is the top tourism generating market for Sri Lanka and over 424,000 Indian nationals visited Sri Lanka in 2018. As updated on 13 May, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) advises its national against all but essential travel to Sri Lanka. According to the reports from Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA), tourist arrivals from the UK stood at over 254,000 in 2018. The Australian Embassy in Sri Lanka has updated the advisory on 1 May saying that the terrorists are likely to carry further attacks in places visited by foreigners. Australians are advised to minimise movement until the situation stabilises. Over 110,000 Australian tourists visited Sri Lanka in 2018.