Tourists should not fear Sri Lanka police tracking: hotelier

Apr 18, 2013 (LBO) - There should be no fears over moves by police to track tourists who are staying in hotels, as some other countries also follow the practice, a top tourist industry official said.









"Some other countries also do follow the same procedure. So no one should get frightened about it," Anural Lokuhetty, chairman of Serene Pavillions, a boutique hotel, and immediate past president of the Hotel Association of Sri Lanka said.

"We are ready to give any information if there is a need.

It is not much of an issue."

Hotels have been asked to give weekly reports of their foreign guests to local police.

Sri Lanka's immigration authorities said earlier that they planned to give machines to hotels and guest houses to swipe guests' passports so that foreigners could be tracked online by the state.

"Arrivals have increased with the end of the war. So we wanted to ensure the safety of the tourists who are coming to this island," police spokesman Buddhika Siriwardena said.

"By doing this, the officer in charge of the police department of each area will have information about the guests and will be able to attend immediately if there is a need.

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He said the police will also