1月5日 1月21日コロンボ国際空港（BIA)再開！観光大臣 😊
本日（1月5日）の現地英字新聞Daily Mirrorにてコロンボ国際空港（バンダラナヤケ国際空港BIA)の開港再開について以下の報道がありました。
内容は以下の通りです。
●スリランカは1月21日より正式に空港を再開し、外国からの観光客を受け入れる。観光大臣
観光大臣のプラサナ・ラナトゥンガ氏は、スリランカの空港を1月21日よりヘルスガイドラインに従って、商用便と観光客向けに正式に再開すると述べました。
これにより、1月21日よりコロンボ国際空港（バンダラナヤケ国際空港BIA）とマッタララジャパクサ国際空港（MRIA)は、商用便と観光客向けに約10か月ぶりに再開する予定です。
また、1月23日までには、全ての空港手続きが通常状態に戻るであろうとの事です。
「国内で300万人近くが直接及び間接的に観光産業に依存しておりますが、コロナ・パンデミックにより完全に職を失った状態です。彼らが直面している現在の状況を配慮して、政府として観光業を後押しするために、全ての空港を再開すると決断しました」と述べています。
現地英字新聞Daily Mirrorの原文は以下となります。
●Country to officially open airports, allow inbound tourists from Jan 21: Minister
5 January 2021 01:44 pm
The country’s airports will be officially opened for commercial passenger transportation and tourists from January 21 as per the health guidelines, Tourism Minister Prasanna Ranatunga said.
Accordingly, the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) at Katunayake and Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport (MRIA) will be opened for commercial flights after ten months, the Minister said.
Addressing the media he said, he would expect commercial flights to touch down at our airports and all airport formalities would return to normal by January 23.
“Nearly three million people in the country are directly and indirectly dependent on the tourism industry and that they have become totally helpless due to the COVID-19 epidemic situation,” Minister Ranatunga said.
Considering the current situation faced by them, the Government has decided to reopen all airports to boost the tourism industry, he said. (Chaturanga Samarawickrama)
【私の所感】
12月26日より既にパイロットプロジェクト（開港導入プロジェクト）を始めており、500人以上のウクライナからの観光客がトラベルバブルを使い、スリランカに試験的に入国を始めています。（既に観光客から8人の陽性者が見つかっており、マスクをしないで観光する人が多数いると報道）
国内感染が広がっている中、この政府の観光客導入施策はスリランカ市民から大変反発が強く、政府野党からも反発が強いため、国内で大きな議論になっています。
政府は1月21日空港の開港を決定しましたが、いまだ開港に伴う観光客とスリランカ国民の安全を確保すべきより良いガイドラインは、はっきり決まっていない状況のようです。（下記 討論内容参照）
一方欧米諸国、日本でのロックダウンの行われている世界的な状況を見ますと、今回の開港は少々早いような気がするのは私だけでしょうか。
私達、観光業界に関わる者にとっては、早く一般旅行者へ空港の再開が行われ、観光客が来てくれることが一番なのですが、観光客とスリランカ国民の安全が確保されぬまま、なし崩し的に開港をするのは大変危険だと思っています。
ワクチンも出来ているという事ですので直ぐには通常に戻らないまでも、今年は少しづつ落ち着いてくれることを期待したいところです。
【参考：昨日1月4日行われた開港についてのガイドライン討議内容（英文）Daily Mirrorより】
●Perfect way to open SL yet to be found, but open we must, says hard-hit tourism sector
By Shabiya Ali Ahlam
Sri Lanka’s tourism industry yesterday stressed the need to welcome international travellers without further delay to uplift the economy and service providers, who have firsthand witnessed the harsh reality of the pandemic, while strictly adhering to the health guidelines.
The private sector stakeholders of the tourism industry yesterday came on to one platform to justify the need to open up the country and stressed that efforts are being taken to ensure the “opening process” is carried out in a manner that ensures locals are least impacted.
“It has not been an easy time for anyone of us. We have had to work hard to get the authorities to get Sri Lanka to officially open,” expressed Sri Lanka Tourism Advisory Council Chairman Hiran Cooray.
He shared that while a set of strict guidelines were conceptualised in consultation with the health officials, the protocols were framed in a manner that would minimise the inconvenience to tourists.
“We realised that if there were too much of restrictions, nobody would want to come here. So, it has to be a fine balance between managing the virus and also managing the people who are coming here,” said Cooray, adding that a perfect mix is yet to be found.
“We still haven’t found a perfect way forward and you may not find the perfect way forward because as I said each country develops its own policy and that’s where we are,” he added.
To move forward in a safe and secure path, the private sector stakeholders of the industry have put forward a series of proposals to be incorporated into the fresh guidelines to be approved by the Tourism Ministry.
The new set of guidelines is based on the ‘travel bubble’ concept, which is to create a cluster of hotel rooms in identified locations with hotels being adjacent to each other.
Sharing insights on the proposal shared with the ministry for incorporation, Sri Lanka Association of Inbound Tour Operators (SLAITO) President Thilak Weerasinghe said initially, the relevant authorities must identify the countries and form travel corridors, from where tourists should be permitted to arrive in the country so that the risks are minimised.
One other proposal was to accommodate incoming tourists in only tier one hotels (certified safe and secure by the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority) for a minimum of seven days before being allowed to shift to a tier two hotel, if the second PCR turns negative.
Among the list of proposals was also a suggestion to convert one of the hotels in the cluster to a hospital to accommodate any guest who requires urgent medical attention.
However, although tourists are allowed a relaxed quarantine period of seven days, it is mandatory for hotel staff to quarantine for 14 days before leaving the premises.
According to the sector representatives, a similar set of guidelines is currently being followed for the ongoing tourism revival pilot project with Ukrainian tourists.
Calling it a learning process, Weerasinghe said that the pilot project has helped identify shortcomings in the process thus paving the way to tweak accordingly before Sri Lanka opens doors to tourists from all over the world.
The pilot project has come under harsh criticism from the point the first passenger exited the aircraft for not wearing the safety masks properly and Weerasinghe admitted that certain mannerisms of the tourists are of concern.
According to him, the industry is better equipped and informed on the situations and they are likely to deal with the issues with when the country opens up end of this month.
Reflecting similar sentiments was The Hotels Association of Sri Lanka (THASL) President Sanath Ukwatte, who stated that the guidelines would be updated in due course.
He noted that although the protocols could vary, the stakeholders are strictly following the imposed guidelines.
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