Tour packages to Sri Lanka combining holidaying and aid work hasn’t ruffled many feathers, with tourism officials saying it can pay in the longer term. Tour packages to Sri Lanka combining holidaying and aid work hasn’t ruffled many feathers, with tourism officials saying it can pay in the longer term.
New Zealand tour operator World Discovery Tours said on Monday that it was offering holidays in Sri Lanka that combined sightseeing with relief work.
The tour that is due to leave on January 20 to come here will include five days of sightseeing and four days re-building a fishing village in Paiyagala.
Fishing town Paiyagala on the Southern coast is about 70 km south of Colombo. About five people are reported to have signed up since the tour was announced today.
The Sri Lanka Navy is to provide the transport and equipment for the re-building project, as New Zealanders fly in here to help repair boats, homes, school while catching some sun.
Local tourism officials are shrugging off what some see as inappropriate.
“In the long term, it can be beneficial, as people fly in here and start to spread the word about Sri Lanka. There hav