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I visited Sri Lanka in 2012 and it was the perfect destination for a relaxing holiday. I found it safe, friendly and relaxing.

Given the political turmoil there this year, I wonder if the country is still welcoming and safe for tourists looking to relax and unwind.

Some key points I have in mind:

  1. Is infrastructure, transportation, water, sanitation, food supplies, etc. functioning properly for tourists to have a reasonable level of comfort during a stay?
  2. Is the level of crime/robberies, etc. still low, or has this increased since the political instability?
  3. Are there widespread humanitarian problems (like food shortages, epidemics, violence, etc.) to a considerably higher degree than a few years ago?

I am particularly interested in first hand experiences anyone who has visited Sri Lanka after the turmoil this year.

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    I think you're overlooking something here: even if the answers to your 3 questions are positive today, would they remain so during your trip? That's the problem with political strife; things can change suddenly. We can't predict the future with absolute certainty, but it is obvious that Sri Lanka is not Finland.
    – MSalters
    Nov 8, 2022 at 10:23
  • I find it slightly disconcerting that "will I be robbed?" comes at a higher priority than "does the robber have food to eat and is that why they're robbing me?"
    – user253751
    Nov 8, 2022 at 18:49
  • @user253751 That is point 3. The points are not in order of priority.
    – Fiksdal
    Nov 8, 2022 at 20:33
  • Some will say it's OK, some will say it isn't. Thus, even though the OP presents criteria, answers will be opinion-based. I vote to close.
    – DavidRecallsMonica
    Nov 12, 2022 at 16:13

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Everything depends on the way of your travel. Are you planning to travel by your own, with a tour guide or with a travel company?

If your answer is with tour guide or with a travel company you have zero things to worry about because they will take care everything.

If you travel by your own, then

  1. Infrastructure, transportation, water, and sanitation developed a lot compared to 2012. Especially now that Sri Lanka has a highway network, you can halve travel time. There are also high standard new trains which are more comfortable and fast for travel. There are plenty of newly open hotels in the last 10 years. These day you can get lots of discounts because of low numbers of tourists.

  2. I won't say zero crime/robberies here in Sri Lanka. Same as other countries, there are some incidents happening here, but mostly not related to tourists. You should know how to stay away from those issues. There are tourist police in every attraction. So if something happened to you, please go and talk to them. Typically Sri Lankan people are helpful and kind for tourists. I would say Sri Lanka is safer than most of Asian countries.

  3. I can guarantee there is no food shortage. But, there is a medicine shortage in the government hospitals. If you need medical assistance always try to find a reputed private hospital. If you drive, there is a fuel limit one car can get per week. But, this is not applicable to tourists. You can get a special fuel pass in the airport and get unlimited fuel for your personal use.

There might be some small protests against the government in the Colombo area time to time. But mostly not in the other parts of the country.

The Sri Lankan rupee decreased a lot compared to USD. So it will be cheap for tourists who travel from other countries. But in Sri Lankan currency most stuff at least 50% more expensive compared to 2012. Especially imported stuff. Anyway, it will normalize because you get 2 times LKR for USD compared to 2012.

Anyway, there are less tourists here in Sri Lanka these days. So local people treat you better and try to give you a good price and good service for most of the things because they want to attract you.

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