Tourism on positive path

The visit of the leader of International Dawoodi Bohra community His Holiness Dr. Sayedna Mohammed Buharnuddin Saheb and his devotees to Sri Lanka have opened a very positive pathway for tourism in the country at the beginning of the 2007 according to the the Secretary of the Ministry of Tourism Dr. P. Ramanujam.

Dr. Ramanujam told the 'Sunday Observer' that the visit of the spiritual leader of the Bohra community was remarkable in many ways as far as the Lankan tourism was concerned.

"The Bohra spiritual leader's visit has proved that Sri Lanka is a country of secularism and the tourists from foreign countries could visit the country without any fears or reservations. Around twenty two thousand from the Bohra community have arrived in the Island on a pilgrimage to worship their spiritual leader.

The majority of them have come from India and Pakistan with others from the United Kingdom, Malaysia, Singapore and Canada," Ramanujam said. He also added that the Government has provided all assistance with regard to the travel arrangements and the security arrangements. The hotels from the Negombo to Kalutara in the coastal stretch along with all big and small hotels in Colombo were packed with thousands of Bohra pilgrims.

Altogether around eight-thousand rooms in Colombo as well as in the hotels in suburbs were occupied by the Bohra people. The Director General of the Tourist Board S. Kalaiselvam told the 'Sunday Observer' that the Bohra pilgrims could be put into the category of quality tourists.

"They are high spenders, spending generously on food, shopping and some of them have gone even on sight seeing.

They have been shopping from an ordinary shop to lavish shopping malls in Colombo and the suburbs. We have even heard the trishaw operators in Colombo saying that it is Christmas for them", Kalaiselvam added.

(AP)