Tourists turn a blind eye to war

British holidaymakers are attracted to Sri Lanka in their thousands by its beautiful beaches and wealth of ancient history. Around 60,000 Britons visit the island every year, despite the protracted and bloody conflict.

Tricia Barnett, director of the pressure group Tourism Concern, called yesterday on travellers to countries with mixed human rights records to consider where the money they spent might be going.

"When we go on holiday we turn a blind eye - the marketing side of the holiday airbrushes everything out.

"Most people when they are going to Sri Lanka don't have the slightest idea, and don't want to know, they are going into a war area."

She urged would-be travellers to read up about their intended destination before making a decision.

Suthaharan Nadarajah, editor of the London-based Tamil Guardian, which broadly reflects Tamil opinion, said: "People who go there and spend money are effectively funding the Sri Lankan war machine."

But a spokesman for the Sri Lankan high commission in London described criticisms as "the propaganda of terrorists".

There are other destinations with question marks over human rights. Britons continue to travel to Turkey despite concern over treatment of the Kurds, and to Israel despite similar worries over the treatment of Palestinians.

Lonely Planet has been criticised for publishing a guidebook to Burma even though Aung San Suu Kyi, the leader of the National League for Democracy, has asked tourists to boycott the country.

Chris May, managing director of tour operator Hayes & Jarvis, predicted that the airport battle was unlikely to dent Sri Lankan tourism in the long term, pointing out that the rebels' main target had been the military air base.

"Tourists have never ever been a target in Sri Lanka. We have never had any incident to date to suggest that tourists are at risk."

Useful links

Background
The deadly tigers of Sri Lanka

The issue explained
Civil war in Sri Lanka

Talk about it
What do you think?

Travel
Sri Lanka guidelines
Holiday in a war zone

Photo gallery
The airport attack

Audio report
'Astonishing' attack on airport (2 mins)

Useful links
Sri Lankan government
TamilNet
Tamil Eelam
Eelam Web
More Tamil links
Daily News, Colombo
Editorials from Tamil and Sinhalese press
Sri Lanka profile
Tourist information
Sri Lanka high commission, London