Sri Lankan armed conflict and its consequences on tourism

     Tourist arrivals to Sri Lanka were on rise until year of 1983. From that point onward, the commence  of the civil conflict in the north and eastern parts of the Sri Lanka and specially with the 1983 July riots and also civil unrest in major connection points in Sir Lanka, such as Colombo and Kandy caused the amount of incoming tourist numbers in fluctuation. (Velamati,2009)

Colombo SkyLine

Kandy temple of tooth

By matching the trends of the tourism in Sri Lanka during the conflicted time makes the dip represent with the some unique events which are related to civil unrest. The dip in year 1989 is a direct result of combination of negative impact of civil anarchy in the north east of Sri Lanka and the uprising of communist political party called Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) in South. (Feith,2009)

In 1993 there were major incidents carried, throughout the year, while in the 1996, the central bank bombardment by LTTE and followed by many suicide attacks to the country’s main tourist destinations and major economical destinations were scattered and they prevented industry from immediate recovery. (Ministry Of Defence Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka,2011).

As country passes through year 2000, violent behaviours carried out again in around 2002 prior to the signing of the peace negotiations agreement in September. Subsequently with the end of temporary violent conflict corresponds with the growth in tourist arrivals in 2003 and 2004. Again in 2007 the LTTE started new air raids and international airport was main targeted which served as the base for the Sri Lankan Air Force. This increased security concerns came with direct reflections on the tourism industry and a reduction of flights to Sri Lanka. By 2008, increased violence and terrorism had resulted many travel restrictions and advisories were in place that deterred tourists from travelling to Sri Lanka. Clearly the crisis situation has had a major role to play in the decline of the tourism industry and has many adverse effects even after the tension situations (Business Monitor International,2010)