Eight British citizens are among around 300 people killed in suicide bombings at churches and luxury hotels in Sri Lanka on Easter Sunday.
The country has long been popular with British tourists, and many UK citizens with Sri Lankan heritage are on the island for the Easter break.
Thousands more are booked to travel to the island in the next few days and weeks. These are the key questions and answers for travellers.
What is the latest official advice from the Foreign Office?
After tragedy unfolded in Sri Lanka, the Foreign Office has said: “Terrorists are very likely to carry out attacks in Sri Lanka. Attacks could be indiscriminate, including in places visited by foreigners.”
The latest advice says British visitors should follow the advice of local security authorities, hotel security staff or their tour company.
It also says that travellers should limit their movements during the curfew, which will extend from 8pm on Monday to 4am on Tuesday. Anyone with a flight booked from Colombo airport will be allowed to travel during the curfew provided they have their passport and a ticket valid for travel that day.
People who fly in to the airport during the curfew will be allowed to travel on to their intended destination on the island by road – again, with proof that they are bona-fide passengers.
Among western governments, Australia is the only one to have raised the alert status for Sri Lanka. It is urging citizens planning to visit the island to “reconsider your need to travel”.
For travellers in Sri Lanka who want to leave – what are the options?
Significantly, the Foreign Office has stopped short of warning against travel to Sri Lanka. Had it done so, then British travel firms would immediately have had to launch a rescue airlift to fly home UK holidaymakers. As it is, there is no automatic entitlement to an early departure.
Colombo airport remains open with operations normal. SriLankan Airlines, the only carrier with direct flights to and from the UK, says: “We are doing our utmost to assist as many passengers as possible.”
Emirates, which flies many British travellers between the UK and Sri Lanka, has told The Independent: “Emirates flights between Colombo and Dubai are operating as scheduled. We are monitoring the situation closely.
“Customers with existing bookings to or from Colombo made on or before April 21 can amend or cancel their flights without charge by contacting their booking agent.”
This applies only to the airline, not to the tour operator Emirates Holidays, which is free to impose whatever conditions it wishes.
Qatar Airways, which has five flights a day between its Doha hub and Colombo with many UK connections, also offers some flexibility to passengers booked to travel to or from Sri Lanka up to the end of April.
The airline says: ”We appreciate that some passengers may wish to change their immediate travel plans.
“To address such requests and give flexibility to our customers, Qatar Airways will permit customers to make changes free of charge.”
Eligible customers should contact their local ticket office
Kuoni, one of the biggest British tour operators to Sri Lanka, says it has contacted all 100 clients on the island; they are all safe and none has so far asked to return earlier than planned.
What about people due to fly to the island and who don’t want to go?
The legal position is that travellers are generally not able to cancel without penalty; only if the Foreign Office were to add Sri Lanka to the “no-go” list would that be possible.
Insurance will not cover what is known as “disinclination to travel”.
Independent travellers who simply become “no-shows” stand to lose most or all their money.
People booked on package holidays may be in a stronger position. They can talk to their travel firm about deferring their trip to Sri Lanka or re-routing to somewhere else.
Kuoni says any customers wanting to amend can ask for help finding an alternative. But such solutions will depend on the flexibility of airlines and hotels, and there are no promises.
Other travel companies may have different policies.
Abta, the travel association, says its members “are in close contact with customers currently in Sri Lanka, and are offering any support or assistance they may need”.
A spokesperson said: “While the Foreign Office hasn’t put any travel restrictions to Sri Lanka in place, meaning normal booking conditions would apply if customers no longer wish to travel, travel companies’ policies will vary, depending on specific circumstances.
“Some Abta members are offering customers who are due to travel imminently the opportunity to change their booking, should they wish to do so. Travellers should contact their travel company to discuss their cancellation policies, and the options available.
“If you have booked all of your travel arrangements separately and you no longer wish to travel, you should speak to the individual companies about their cancellation policies.”
In more normal times, how risky is travel to Sri Lanka?
A long and bloody civil war haunted Sri Lanka from 1983 to 2009, with many parts of the island off limits to UK. For most of the past decade the island has been relatively calm.
But in 2018 violence flared again and a state of emergency was declared island-wide after inter-communal strife between the Buddhist majority and Muslim minority.
The Foreign Office warns “You should be aware of the risk of sexual assault, spiked drinks, road accidents and drowning due to dangerous tides.”
But it adds: “Most visits to Sri Lanka are trouble-free.”
What effect will the attacks have on tourism to Sri Lanka?
Tourism is the cornerstone of Sri Lanka’s economy. In a typical year, 200,000 UK citizens visit the country.
This appalling series of attacks is presumably aimed at deterring visitors and causing maximum damage to the island’s prosperity and employment. Yet even during the civil war, tourism continued with British visitors especially keen to visit a beautiful, fascinating and welcoming island.
