Welcoming tourists to Sri Lanka to revive the lucrative industry is a good move which should be welcomed but opportunities should be provided for all players of the industry to benefit, said Social Scientist and tourism industry expert Dr. Dietmar Doering.
He said the Government’s first cautious move to permit foreign tourists from Russia and Ukraine to Sri Lanka is a good move and should be welcomed.
However, he said although the Sri Lanka Tourist Development Authority plans to welcome 4,341 tourists, only 58 hotels had been selected so far to cater to the visitors.
“This goodwill measure is only a drop in the ocean. Around 99 percent of the hotels and guesthouses in Sri Lanka have been left out. Other countries go different ways and quite interestingly their mortality rates on Covid-19 are even lower or at least not surpassing those countries which implemented very tough restrictions,” Dr. Doering said, adding that the Maldives for example records full occupancy for nearly all their island resorts right now, Dubai welcomes guests from all over the world and its restaurants, shopping malls are inviting tourists from all over the world and the Brazilian President is against the introduction of the vaccination program since the pharma-industry does not take any responsibility in case of side effects after the vaccine is administered.
Deaths have also been reported from various countries after the vaccines had been administered.
He said Sri Lanka with its vast Ayurvedic tradition should set an example to other countries by permitting alternative herbal treatment to confront the virus. Mortality rates should be the measurement scale for defining the parameter of a pandemic, not the positive case count.
PCR tests are vulnerable and faulty results quite the norm. One of the best football players in the world, Ronaldo, was tested 19 times and the results varied from negative to positive, back and forth.
If a country’s key industries are shut down and lockdowns prevent small and medium businesses from operating, bankruptcies are inevitable. Sri Lanka is very conciliant and allows many businesses to run, Western countries on the other hand are strict and the negative impact on their economies are imminent this year with a wave of insolvencies on the horizon.
Most people who fall sick with Covid-19 will experience mild to moderate symptoms and recover without special treatment.
Since the mortality rate due to Covid-19 is significantly low in Sri Lanka with positive cases of around 42,702, 34,623 recoveries and a little over 250 deaths which counts as 0.5%, the Government could allow the country to open up for tourists to restart tourism. No economy can survive if lockdowns continue indefinitely.