Tourism was crucial to the civil war-battered economy—its pandemic-enforced closure underlies the foreign exchange shortage that is the root cause of the current economic crisis
In this picture taken on March 25, 2022, tourists walk along a beach in Mirissa, a small town on the south coast of Sri Lanka. Tourism became crucial to the economy — its pandemic-enforced closure underlies the foreign exchange shortage that is the root cause of the current situation. (Credit: Ishara S. KODIKARA / AFP)
Mirissa, Sri Lanka: In a Sri Lankan beach guesthouse blacked out by a power cut, the owner's son illuminates a printed Wifi password with his phone for two European backpackers. A moment later the trio grasp the gesture's futility.
Electricity stoppages, petrol queues and escalating protests are threatening hopes that a tourism revival could help arrest the island nation's intensifying financial crisis.
After being ravaged by civil war for decades the country's coconut palm-lined beaches and exotic wildlife more recently made it a popular stomping ground for both high-end globetrotters and budget travellers.
Tourism became crucial to the economy—its pandemic-enforced closure underlies the foreign exchange shortage that is the root cause of the current situation.