Sri Lanka’s tourist arrivals in September is down 27.2% compared to last year, reports Sri Lanka’s tourism bureau on Monday.
This continues a record of poor performance for six months as foreign visitors are hesitant to visit the island after the Easter Sunday bombings in April.
Sri Lanka's tourism industry has already come under fire from human rights organisations around the globe, which has often supported the country's military.
Read more here: ‘Don’t holiday with war criminals’ – SL Campaign re-launches ethical tourism campaign
Reuters notes that since the attack, the number of foreign visitors has fallen to the lowest level since the end of the country’s civil war a decade ago.
According to the data, last year arrivals to Sri Lanka were 149,08 but this has fallen to 108,575 and marked a sixth consecutive monthly fall. In the five months from May to September tourism fell 44.4% to 468,737 from 843,569 a year earlier.
Read more here.
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