Sri Lanka says it has "opened its doors to the world once again" after welcoming its first contingent of international tourists at the weekend under the country’s strict new Covid protocols – but has stressed it won’t yet be making any exemptions for vaccinated travellers.
The visit from a German wellness tourism delegation marked the official reopening of the country’s main international airport, Bandaranaike, in capital Colombo to international tourist arrivals.
It follows a month-long pilot project with Ukraine which ended on Sunday (25 January) and saw nearly 2,000 tourists travel to Sri Lanka under the new protocols.
Sri Lanka is expected to open up to another key market, Russia, next month. Travel from the UK, though, will remain suspended owing to the UK’s ongoing Covid epidemic.