Sri Lanka’s road links to major cities and tourist areas are now fully accessible, according to an update from the country’s tourism board.
Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority issued an update following Cyclone Ditwah, which tore through the island last month, killing more than 600 people.
There have been further landslide warnings in parts of the country over the weekend, but in an update, the tourism board said that key accessible routes were open, including the Kandy to Colombo road and routes to the popular town of Nuwara Eliya.
It added that 90% of the power supply has been successfully restored across all main cities.
All national parks and wildlife centre have reopened, except Wasgamuwa National Park in the centre of the island, which is expected to open soon.
On Friday, TUI Cruises’ Mein Schiff 6 docked in Colombo’s port, with more than 2,000 passengers onboard. Excursions included visits to Galle, Madu Oya, Kalutara, and Colombo.
Speaking to Travel Gossip this week, Jean-Marc Flambert, who oversaw the tourist office in the UK from 2004-2008 and now runs Secrets of Ceylon Collection, said: “Right now the key message is Sri Lanka remains open. The roads are accessible, it may take a little longer at times, as they are doing the work, but they are open.”
Following his message last week urging tourists not to cancel trips, Jean-Marc added: “There is no reason not to go. It is very sad to see the effects on communities, but we want people to travel and the tourist trail is very much open.
“I am getting a lot of new bookings for January to March. Understandably we lost some bookings for early December, but there haven’t been substantial cancellations.”
The UK Foreign Office updated its advice on 5 December to advise people to monitor local news reports and stay in touch with tour operators.
