- Stakeholders insist Sri Lanka is open for tourists
Cyclone Ditwah has devastated Sri Lanka, causing over 400 deaths and over 300 missing persons so far, in addition to catastrophic destruction to the country’s infrastructure in affected areas.
In the midst of this, the economic toll is heavy and the impact has reached sectors across the country, including tourism – a critically important industry to the country, one of its largest foreign exchange earners, and a major source of employment and economic recovery. Sri Lanka usually welcomes its highest number of tourists in the year during December.
With the cyclone moving away and rescue and rebuilding efforts underway, Sri Lanka is starting to recover, with improved weather and a rapid reopening of the majority of affected access points. Thus, Sri Lanka is safe and open, with industry stakeholders, members of the public, and even tourists currently travelling the country urging tourists to continue to visit the country.
Visitor safety ensured
The Sunday Morning Business reached out to Deputy Minister of Tourism Prof. Ruwan Ranasinghe for insight into the impact on the sector.
The Deputy Minister noted that the authorities had managed to successfully airlift and rescue several tourists who had been stranded in the affected areas, with a few cases reported particularly from Nuwara Eliya. Moreover, he added that several roads and access points were being opened at present in areas including Hatton, Avissawela, and Nuwara Eliya.
Prof. Ranasinghe further noted that nearly 700 tourists had been staying in Nuwara Eliya at the time, all of whom had been attended to and their safety ensured, while observing that no tourist casualties had been reported.
With new arrivals, such as over 2,000 tourists arriving on luxury cruises, which is expected to lead to a significant boost for the industry, the authorities intend to welcome more overseas visitors in time to come, especially with rebuilding efforts underway.
According to Prof. Ranasinghe, while the expected number of arrivals for November was nearly 200,000, actual arrivals had surpassed this number, reaching a figure of 212,000 instead. The target for December is 300,000 arrivals and the authorities are hopeful about realising this target as well in order to ensure the annual target is met.
Regions open, safe, and fully operational
Furthermore, several tourism zones and regions remain open, safe, and fully operational at present, with all major tourism regions welcoming visitors. All major coastal destinations on the western, southern, and eastern coasts were unaffected by the cyclone and have continued to welcome visitors as usual.
According to the Sri Lanka Tourism Alliance’s verified updates, as of Wednesday (3), among national parks, cultural sites, and nature experiences, all key protected areas are open and operating in a normal manner, including Yala (Blocks 1, 5, and 6),Udawalawe, Bundala, Kumana, and Horton Plains. Forest Department sites are open with the exception of Knuckles, which remains under safety review.
All Cultural Triangle heritage sites, including Sigiriya, Dambulla, Polonnaruwa, and Anuradhapura, are fully accessible. Additional wildlife parks, including Wilpattu, Minneriya, Kaudulla, and Wasgamuwa, are expected to reopen shortly once safety inspections conclude.
In the hill country, Ella and Haputale remain accessible via the south coast/Udawalawe route. Hatton is accessible through the Cultural Triangle and Kandy, and authorities are making daily progress in Nuwara Eliya and parts of the central highlands.
All international flights are operating as normal through Colombo’s Bandaranaike International Airport and major access routes to every key tourism area are open, even as clearing of secondary and interior routes continues. The southern railway line operates as usual, but the hill country line remains temporarily suspended pending safety clearance.
Road accessibility: The main challenge
Speaking to The Sunday Morning Business, outgoing President of The Hoteliers Association of Sri Lanka (THASL) M. Shanthikumar noted that while interruptions in travelling and road safety concerns existed, with conditions now improving and Government initiatives in cleaning up roads and regions in place, over 70% of the issues had been resolved.
Meanwhile, commenting on support extended by authorities, Association of Small and Medium Enterprises in Tourism (ASMET) President Prebudda Jayasinghe added that the disaster management system in the country at the time of the crisis had been very helpful, especially when it came to finding routes to facilitate guests. He noted that many tourists in the country had been able to enjoy their tours and continued to do so.
“The industry faces challenges mainly due to road accessibility. The Road Development Authority (RDA) was very helpful and communication from the authorities, such as the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA) helpline, has also been beneficial, especially in relation to the opening up of national parks, cultural sites, etc. Sri Lanka must now engage in more promotions than what was planned before,” he added.
Visitor cancellations
The Sunday Morning Business also reached out to several regional tourist associations to assess the impact.
With Sigiriya being central in the Cultural Triangle, Sigiriya Tourist Guest House Owners and Businessmen Association President Lionel Gunasekara noted that several visitor bookings in the region had been cancelled, with the association encountering close to 50% cancellations for both December and January despite the cyclone’s minimal direct impact on most of the region.
He also highlighted that guests already staying in hotels in the region were proceeding with their tours despite the situation.
Furthermore, Kandy Hoteliers’ Association President Rodney Armstrong noted that except for a certain amount of minor damage, 95% of hotels were operational without any issues. He noted that communication, power, and water-related issues had been resolved by the authorities, with essential goods and necessary items being available as well.
Armstrong further noted that the main changes were due to route changes, which had created the need to come through Galagedara. Commenting on coordination efforts from the authorities, he noted that there had been certain lapses since the disaster was beyond their control.
“There are certain cancellations, with incorrect information going out about the entire Kandy region being severely affected. The severely affected regions are mostly situated on the outskirts, while the city area where most of the hotels are situated is not severely affected and remains operational at the usual scale,” he added.
Meanwhile, Nuwara Eliya Hoteliers’ Association President Dinesh Lokuyaddehige said that while operations of hotels in the city of Nuwara Eliya had returned to normalcy, the establishments were running without a single guest due to issues with road accessibility to Kandy. Despite the Hatton-Nuwara Eliya main road being open, he pointed to access issues from Kandy to Nuwara Eliya and vice versa.
“This is our main challenge at the moment. The association had a meeting with several Government officials as well and communicated the need to have proper connection with Kandy City, and this remains our main focus at present. Other than that, hotels are functioning in the usual manner, with adequate staff, resources, including food and fuel, and alternative tour options,” he added.
Lokuyaddehige shared that Government officials had pledged that proper accessibility between these regions would be restored. He opined that visitor arrivals would also be restored once accessibility issues were fully resolved. Prior to the disaster, he said that the region had notably positive occupancy and reservation rates, with expectations for improvement.
Special tourist assistance team in operation
In the immediate aftermath of the weather crisis, the SLTDA announced that the Sri Lanka Tourism hotline 1912 was active 24 hours a day for queries or assistance related to the prevailing weather conditions. It noted that support would be provided in coordination with the Tourist Police, Disaster Management Centre, and other relevant authorities islandwide.
Speaking to The Sunday Morning Business, Police Tourist Division Acting Director, Assistant Superintendent of Police Prabath Vidanagama confirmed that Sri Lanka was still a safe destination for travel, with most of the roads to all popular sites having been cleared. However, train services in several destinations are not in operation, although they are expected to be restored soon.
Commenting on Tourist Police operations during the storm, Vidanagama explained that a special tourist assistance team in operation at the Tourist Police Office in Colombo had responded to all inquiries made by tourists.
He noted that there had been certain communication issues when contacting Nuwara Eliya and a few select areas in Kandy due to the breakdown of communication mechanisms. However, he also noted that the division had ensured that tourists remained safe, with each of the 43 Tourist Police units in the popular destinations taking care of tourists staying within the respective areas.
“We supported the efforts of the SLTDA and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs by providing our offices for emergency assistance work. In addition, two passenger ships arrived in the midst of this and we have helped in attending to them as well,” he added.
Disaster proofing
Meanwhile, addressing disaster risk financing and insurance for disaster-proof tourism, University of Colombo (UOC) Professor in Tourism Economics D.A.C. Suranga Silva highlighted the urgent need for specialised disaster risk financing tools such as climate insurance and industry security schemes.
With climate risks to Sri Lankan tourism being multifaceted and uneven, he noted that this demanded tailored financial solutions that addressed the specific vulnerabilities of different industry segments rather than one-size-fits-all approaches.
“There is a need for a coordinated and inclusive risk management solution. There is also a need for a systemic approach against the possible climate change impact to develop resilience through financial viability and long-term business development, more specifically against the climate change impact affecting the operations of small local businesses besides the well-established national and international tourism business chains.”
Prof. Silva explained that Sri Lanka’s tourism infrastructure was mainly concentrated in two vulnerable areas: the coastal regions and central highlands. In the coastal regions, approximately 70% of tourism assets lie along the 1,600 km coastline, particularly in the southwest (Colombo, Galle, and Bentota).
He noted that these areas faced sea level rise, accelerating beach erosion, and intensifying cyclones. The 2004 tsunami caused $ 250 million in tourism losses, with over 1,000 coastal hotels and the beaches and coral reefs that attracted visitors being directly threatened.
Meanwhile, he pointed out that popular hill country destinations (Nuwara Eliya, Ella, and Kandy) faced increasing landslide risk from changing monsoon patterns. The 2016–2017 landslides killed over 200 people and damaged critical tourism infrastructure, including the scenic railway and access roads.
Accordingly, Prof. Silva highlighted that this geographic concentration in hazard-prone zones created systemic risk, worsened by structural and economic vulnerabilities. Beyond that, he noted that the structure of Sri Lankan tourism contained fragilities that added to the potential damage from disaster events.
These include Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) located within the vulnerable coastal and mountainous zones possessing limited financial resources to invest in essential resilience measures, lacking the capital for structural upgrades, and struggling to implement formal business continuity planning or access affordable post-disaster finance.
Another fragility, according to Prof. Silva, is dependence on natural and cultural assets, the degradation of which poses direct threats, especially to the viability of SMEs.
Accordingly, he suggested several solutions. These include proactive risk financing and discretionary cost, which are innovative instruments for tourism resilience. Moreover, with insurance being a major concern for the SME sector, he suggested parametric insurance as a solution particularly relevant for a nature-dependent tourism economy such as Sri Lanka.
“Realising the full benefits of innovative disaster risk financing and insurance requires a coordinated and strategic policy environment. Recommendations for Government bodies include integrating tourism into national strategy, incentivising private sector resilience, and promoting Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs). Recommendations for financial institutions and insurers include developing tailored insurance products, innovative risk transfer mechanisms, and integrating climate risk into financial decisions,” he said.
The tourist experience
The Sunday Morning Business also reached out to several tourists who were in the country during the cyclone, especially those travelling or staying in the affected areas. Most of them noted that adequate support and communication had been provided during the situation.
Edoardo Pierantozzi, a tourist travelling in Ahangama and then in Negombo, said: “Regarding support, the only official information received during this period were the automated alerts sent to tourists, I assume from Government or emergency services. Apart from that, most of the updates I got were through local media and social networks. There wasn’t any direct or structured communication on the ground, at least not in my case.”
In terms of experience, he noted that the situation had affected his trip mostly because of the heavy rain. “I was in the south when the worst weather hit, and later, when I moved north, the cyclone was already passing, so what I encountered were power outages and continuous rainfall. Nothing that put me in real danger, but it obviously influenced the travel experience.
“That said, my perception of Sri Lanka hasn’t changed at all. It remains one of the most beautiful countries I’ve ever visited and I genuinely can’t wait to return. Events like this are unfortunately becoming more frequent due to climate change, and while they can impact a trip, they don’t diminish the essence of the place or the warmth of its people,” he added.
Elena Seliwerstowa, staying with a Sri Lankan family, noted that the cyclone caused them minimal damage. “Our well got clogged with dirty water and we were without electricity for a while, but overall, it was very minimal compared to what other families went through. We received food assistance and people were even paddling on boats to help. Our neighbours also shared food with us.
“Since I’m active on Instagram, many people asked if I needed help. Sri Lanka has kind-hearted people and everyone looks out for each other. Also, a helicopter flew over our house to evacuate people who could no longer stay in their homes. I also received messages on my phone with useful information, including numbers I could call to get medical help.”
Vanessa Piccinini, an Italian blogger and documentarist, said: “When the cyclone arrived, I was in the north of Sri Lanka, while the most affected areas were mainly inland. During those days we experienced several blackouts and the Sri Lankan Government declared a state of emergency, advising everyone, including tourists, to remain inside their hotels or homes. A dedicated helpline for tourists was immediately made available, along with guidelines on how to donate and support people in need, both from the Government and from the Sri Lanka Red Cross.”
“We personally received a lot of support and kindness from all Sri Lankans we met during our journey. We’ve been travelling in Sri Lanka for a month now and we also purchased essential goods as aid and delivered them. Overall, the Government seemed to provide the necessary support during the emergency, but above all, the people made everything feel far less frightening and difficult,” she added.