Is Sri Lanka safe to travel now?

    is Sri Lanka safe? Recently the beautiful island nation of Sri Lanka has been making international headlines. Unfortunately not for the most positive reasons the country is struggling with its worst economic crisis in 70 years. Sri Lanka defaults on 51 billion dollars in external debt there is no fuel there are no medicines critical surgeries are being canceled. The country is dealing with rampant inflation. One estimate from Johns Hopkins University shows real inflation at over 130 percent.

    The pressure on the government was overwhelming with tens of thousands protesting outside the presidential headquarters on July 10 thousands of protesters stormed president Gotabhaya Rajapaksa’s official residence.

    • But how does this affect tourism?
    • is Sri Lanka safe to travel?
    • are there still shortages of medicine fuel and food?
    • is it difficult to get around?
    • are things improving or getting worse?
    • should I just go to Bali instead?

    well let’s get into that

    Welcome to Sri Lanka

    Ohhh Sri Lanka, what the heck is going on? unfortunately, this Sri Lanka has been dealing with troubles economic and political troubles and in this blog, I want to take this opportunity to share what it is really like in Sri Lanka. Right now for a traveler and to be honest, there have been some difficulties and some downsides, which I’ll get into that in a little bit I also want to share the real reason why most travelers love Sri Lanka which is very exciting so stick around but We don’t want this to just be about our experiences so first let’s hear from some other people that I’ve met throughout this journey.

    Is Sri Lanka Safe?

    Ms. Shehara (Sri Lanka)

    I would definitely say that whatever International media portrays is not 100 percent correct. I’m not saying that there is no issue at the moment but without tourism coming into the country we won’t be able to get this country back up on its feet.

    Mr. Curis ( Germany)

    Everything is open everything is nice. Locals are really really happy if somebody comes.

    Mr. Harry (England)

    Locals definitely go out of their way to make you feel safe. I haven’t been put in any position where I feel like there’s imminent danger or there’s “I need to get out of this situation”

    Mr. Tim (Australia)

    You wouldn’t realize you know there is any sort of political situation going on out on the beaches in the neighborhoods the communities it’s all been amazing so.

    Ms. Cece (Norway)

    It’s been really good it’s been great yeah I love Sri Lanka. I’m really surprised at the people I love the people everyone’s so friendly everyone invites you for coffee and nice food. It’s beautiful.

    Ms. Mireia (Spain)

    So far it’s been amazing I’m super glad I decided to come here I was a little bit reluctant because people were telling me that it could be frightening for a girl or that be careful because the conditions I hard in the country but I think it’s much better if you cannot feel anything of what happened.

    Mr. Miladin (USA)

    Coming here has been one of the greatest experiences I’ve ever had. I’ve traveled to Southeast Asia. I’ve been to  Europe I’ve been to South America, but this country and what it offers from the culture to the people is a place that I think. Everyone should experience it.

    Mr. George (England)

    People food amazing scenery gorgeous country. I had tons of friends who were like uh. You shouldn’t be going there it’s not like safe but everything here is working so fine.

    Ms. Lena (Germany)

    Do you feel safe here in Sri Lanka? yeah, I really do and would you recommend coming here to other people? yes, definitely it’s so nice here. Just give it a try it’s so worth it just come here and enjoy Sri Lanka.

    Ms. Shehara (Sri Lanka)

    Because still, we have not lost our hospitality we still haven’t lost this beautiful smile that you see on everyone’s faces. We still have all that energy that we can welcome them with open arms and we just want you to come because that supports our economy without a doubt so without your help. I don’t think we can get there so we definitely encourage all tourists to make Sri Lanka their holiday destination next time or soon even now.

    okay, so we know that was a lot of positivity but now I do want to address some of the negatives or some of the valid concerns that a lot of people are having before deciding whether or not to come to Sri Lanka.

    The big one I think is the shortages of fuel food medicine and just basically everything. The reality is there was an extreme shortage but that was a few months ago and things have been improving. We drove around the entire country. Well, most of the country and with that comes the need for fuel and we had no issues at all at some fuel stations there were lines or cues some of them were longer than others there have been fuel stations that have just
    not been opened but you just drive a few more kilometers and you’ll find another one so I’ve never been in a situation. where no one ran out of fuel or even really waited too long to get it so it’s been no problem with that.

    so the second concern most people have before coming here is power cuts

    because Sri Lanka needs fuel to run the power grid here and with the shortage of fuel comes a shortage of power. But things have been getting much better there have been power cuts for about one hour every day depending on where you are in different locations they actually organize. It is so people are aware ahead of time so you can plan accordingly.  In Sri Lanka, you have different types of accommodations that have generators depending on where you stay. They might have access to a generator if not they usually know ahead of time when the power cut is going to happen and it’s only about an hour to an hour and a half it’s not a big deal.

    now the real big issue here is honestly not for foreigners, the big issue is for locals because as a traveler as a foreigner you’re barely affected. Sure you may get a power cut once a day for an hour it’s not a big deal at all. The real issue is hitting the locals really hard because of this economic crisis. The value of the Sri Lankan rupee was cut nearly in half so imagine that imagine all of your money in your bank account is now pretty much overnight one day worth half of the value and then on top of that most of the goods most of everything the price increased and in some cases doubled so just imagine that all of your money is worth half of what it previously was and now everything is double expensive.

    it’s crazy that as a foreigner you don’t feel that because the value of the currency drops significantly so now the US
    dollars are actually way more, it’s you don’t. It’s honestly it’s just sad you feel really bad for locals and you are astonished by how resilient these people are they’ve been dealing with one after the other of just constant hardships.

    Yet as you travel around this country, people who see you are smiling. You know they’re probably struggling with their own personal issues and finances but they’re still friendly. If you were here a few years ago and it feels no
    different at all and ultimately,  It is the best time as a foreigner to support these people is being here, coming here, staying here, spending your money here, and supporting the locals honestly. Everywhere and some of the most popular tourist destinations right now are empty so this is the best time to be here.

    Sri Lanka is amazing. If you are interested in coming to Sri Lanka, would to come now don’t wait. You have a lot of tours and packages that you can book and customize… Click more tours 

    There’s a lot of misinformation being shared about Sri Lanka and the truth is this country is amazing so easy to travel, people are so friendly and you should definitely come here if you’re interested. If you wish to know more please contact us. 

    Peaceful country.

    Good weather

    Good sunset.