I first visited Sri Lanka in the summer of 2001 and fell in love with the island dubbed the 'Teardrop in the Indian Ocean'.
My friend and I toured widely although the civil war, raging since 1983, put some areas out of bounds.
But the people were so warm and welcoming and the country so beautiful that I vowed to return – even when a Tamil Tiger suicide squad attacked Colombo’s airport hours after I flew out.
My friend was sent to report on the Boxing Day tsunami of 2004 which devastated large swathes of the coast and claimed 35,000 lives.
But by the time I returned in 2008 the resilient, determined Sri Lankans had rebuilt their villages, towns and hotels and tourism was recovering.
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The war ended the following year, and over the next decade tourism boomed by 500 per cent.
Eight world heritage sites, misty highland tea plantations, pristine beaches, blue whales, elephants – no wonder Lonely Planet named Sri Lanka its number one destination for 2019.
On Good Friday my friend and I discussed returning there in November.
So when terrorists attacked six hotels and churches on Easter Sunday I wept, for the victims, their families and the caring, hard-working Sri Lankans.
It was painfully apparent that the carnage of the suicide blasts would be followed by an economic aftershock.
The Foreign Office has advised against all but essential travel – putting Sri Lanka in the same risk category as Iraq and North Korea.
Now its tourism faces a £1.15billion hit.
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Hotels employ 200,000 people but there are millions more, like tuktuk drivers, guides and restaurants owners, who rely on holidaymakers.
The tourism ministry says the FO’s ban is “premature” as terror attacks are “a global phenomenon” and the country is “as safe as any other top destination in the world – open for business and welcoming tourists”.
If police apprehend the 140 Islamic State supporters said to be still at large then I, and the four million visitors expected this year, may start to believe them.
And return to help the beautiful island now drowning in an ocean of tears.
