Tourists arrived from Ukraine, a country owned by the Russian Federation, began on December 28 under the ‘Travel Bubble’ concept to revive Sri Lanka’s tourism industry. The first group consisted of 186 Ukrainian tourists, followed by 240.
Minister of Tourism Prasanna Ranatunga said that this project will be implemented jointly by the Health and Safety sectors in accordance with the recommendations of the covid Suppression Committee and the advice of expert doctors. He also said that the project was designed to prevent the virus from being transmitted from tourists to Sri Lankans and from us to them, without building any contact between tourists and Sri Lankans.
However, six tourists in the group have been diagnosed with covid infection. Also, it has been observed during their visits so far that these tourists do not even wear or wear face masks as per the Sri Lankan anti-covid laws.
Compared to other countries, Sri Lanka was at the top as a country that successfully controlled the first wave of covid. The current president has sometimes told health officials to discuss how other countries have successfully controlled corona, not how they have managed it.
This regime lasted for more than six months and people in some areas had even forgotten that we were facing a global epidemic. At one point we came across a woman with a corona infection from Brandix in Minuwangoda. It was the beginning of the Second Corona Wave, which spread rapidly not only in the Gampaha District but in the entire Western Province in a very short period of time. Today, this second wave has spread to more than twenty districts in Sri Lanka. The epidemic is spreading rapidly in districts such as Kandy and Ratnapura, defeating Colombo and Gampaha districts.
When Ukraine was chosen to create the tourist bubble, it spontaneously created a great deal of controversy in the country. The main reason for this was the recent finding by a government-appointed committee that Ukrainians were involved in the second corona wave that began in Sri Lanka. The other reason was that Ukraine was a country where the Kovid 19 virus was spreading rapidly. Also, due to the Great Recession in the country and the significant poverty of a significant number of people, it has been stated that Sri Lanka will not be able to earn the expected level of income through Ukrainian tourists.
Tourism Minister Prasanna Ranatunga says that 2580 tourists from several countries in the Russian Federation including Ukraine are scheduled to visit Sri Lanka.
Former Ambassador Udayanga Weeratunga, who is known as the mastermind of this project, had stated in this regard. He said that the arrival of the Ukrainians would be based on the beliefs built on the sacrifices I had made since 2006 as Ambassador, and that I had planned to bring 10 more flights to Mattala from January 2, 2021.
Mr. Udayanga Weeratunga said that this step taken by Ukraine as a country with great confidence and solidarity with Sri Lanka would further strengthen the bilateral ties between the two countries. “I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to TPG Tours, Compass Tour, JoinUp as well as all Ukrainians who have visited our country,” he said.
Even in the face of such a terrible epidemic, any government must take steps to maintain other day-to-day activities, including tourism and other industries. But special care must be taken to prevent it from becoming more severe than it already is. Even the most developed countries of ours carry out accurate and scientific analyzes of the epidemic and from time to time partially or completely close their countries, assessing the seriousness of the epidemic.
-Philip Dissanayake-