The New Zealand High Commission has refuted a local print media report claiming that its travel advisory to Sri Lanka has been changed and its citizens were warned against travelling to the island.
The New Zealand High Commissioner to Sri Lanka, Michael Appleton in a thread of Twitter messages said that the reports were false.
Issuing a clarification, Appleton said that New Zealand has not issued a travel advisory advising Kiwis against travelling to Sri Lanka.
“We have two types of travel advisory that advise New Zealanders against going to a particular country or region: “do not travel” and “avoid non-essential travel”. There are well over 50 countries that currently have these sorts of New Zealand travel advisories. Sri Lanka is not one of them,” he revealed.
Michael Appleton further said Sri Lanka is in a much bigger group of countries, which include the likes of Singapore, Australia and Japan, where we advise New Zealanders to “exercise increased caution”.
He pointed out that the media report also erroneously claims that the travel advice for Sri Lanka has recently been “tightened” (the advice level has remained the same for months) and that changes to the language in the travel advice were related to Independence Day, which was not the case.
Appleton clarified that “One reason it is important to correct these inaccuracies is that New Zealand recognises how important international tourism is to Sri Lanka’s economic recovery. As a partner and friend of Sri Lanka, seeking to help where we can with tackling the economic crisis, the New Zealand High Commission in Colombo welcomes Kiwi tourists here – and encourages them to read our travel advice as part of their preparation before they get here.”
