COLOMBO: Sri Lanka has been a popular tourist destination for centuries, and tourism is a key source of revenue and a driver for local economy. The Sri Lankan Civil War, which spanned more than 25 years and ended in 2009, naturally hurt the country’s tourism, keeping the industry stagnate.
Tourism has been rising rapidly ever since the end of the war, however. Among many new developments, the Sri Lankan government is implementing a major 4,000-acre tourism development project 175 kilometers north of the capital Colombo at Kalpitiya, which is revered for its scenic beauty.
Raisa Wickrematunge writes in Groundviews that more than a million tourists visited Sri Lanka between January and August this year alone. This is an industry that provides thousands of people with jobs, either directly or indirectly.
There is evidence, however, that locals are being denied work in the tourism industry on a systematic basis. Wickrematunge found several local people who say they were not allowed to work for tour companies. In some cases, individuals weren’t even allowed to offer their own services directly to tourists, such as boating and hospitality services. Indeed many hotels—both private facilities and those owned by the armed forces—refuse to employ local workers.
