Nobody is more excited than me to say: Sri Lanka is back. After a string of tough years for tourism, visitor numbers are on the rise again. Almost 200,000 Brits travelled to Sri Lanka in 2023, which is more than double the figure for the previous year. So buoyed is the tourist board, it will launch a new campaign next month with the slogan “You’ll come back for more”, a nod to the 35 per cent of visitors who are repeat guests.
I am one such super-fan, already a repeat guest and keen to return. For a country significantly smaller than Scotland, Sri Lanka packs in so many incredible sights. My daughter will tell you it’s the blue-whale watching we love most, or swimming with turtles on Unawatuna Beach; my husband might declare it’s the easy-peasy elephant safari in Udawalawe National Park, or the cashew nut curries; for me, it’s all of the above, as well as ancient temples, chic tea-plantation hotels and watching cricket in Galle. But more than anything it’s the fact that such world wonders are never more than two or three hours’ car or train journey apart.