Truce between rebels and govt leads to revival in tourism

Trincomalee, north-eastern Sri Lanka 1. Various of tourists in motor boat going into sea 2. Various of foreign tourists on beach 3. Various of tourists bathing in the sea 4. Tourists relaxing at beach resort 5. SOUNDBITE: (English) Vox pop, French Tourist "For a child it's a very nice and very beautiful place - very easy for a child to travel in Sri Lanka." 6. SOUNDBITE: (French) Vox pop, French child: "Here it's really nice, you can have fun and make friends, it's paradise on earth." 7. Foreign tourist trying out necklace made of sea-shells 8. Couple from Tasmania (in Australia) wearing diving gear 9. Tourists practicing diving in shallow water 10. SOUNDBITE: (English) Peter Hadam and Maggie, Tourists from Tasmania Peter: "Kandy, the high country, the tea growing areas are beautiful, they are really interesting to see. It's something that we don't see of course in Tasmania. We have enjoyed the beaches - this beach particularly has nice, fine sand, wide beach, lovely beach." Maggie: "And beautifully clean water." Peter: "Yeah, it's been good." Kandy, Central Sri Lanka Night shots 11. Exterior Temple of the Tooth 12. Various of traditional drummers in procession 13. Traditional dancers in procession 14. Decorated elephants 15. Various of performers spinning fire wheels 16. Pan over elephants and baby elephants in orphanage on outskirts of Kandy 17. Various of elephants in orphanage Colombo 18. SOUNDBITE (English) Rajeev Nangia, Manager for India, Sri Lanka Tourist Board "It has been known as an unsafe destination for a very long time. And we wanted to portray the image of safety into the minds of the people." 19. Indian tourist looking at Sri Lankan handicrafts 20. Western tourists shopping 21. Indian tourist going on escalator in shopping mall 22. Western tourists trying out clothes in shopping mall 23. SOUNDBITE: (English) Madhubani Parera, Sri Lanka Tourist Board "We thought of concentrating more on the Asian markets because it will generate a lot of tourists to Sri Lanka. And India has become one of the main tourist-generating markets for Sri Lankan tourism." Hatton, south-central Sri Lanka 24. Various of tea plantation, women picking tea leaves and carrying in baskets STORYLINE: A revival in tourism has been one of the biggest dividends of the prospects for peace in Sri Lanka. The fear of Tamil rebel attacks has declined since the six-month old truce between the Sri Lankan government and the Tamil guerillas. Peace talks between the rebels and the government are scheduled for September in Thailand. The peace process has not only opened up the island nation to a larger number of foreign tourists but has led to a growth in tourism especially in the war torn northeast. The port city of Trincomalee in north-eastern Sri Lanka has become a tourist hot spot. During the country's ethnic civil war, holiday-makers would have been warned off venturing to these parts. Sri Lanka's east coast has some of the country's most attractive beaches and resorts in Trincomalee have been bustling with activity ever since travel restrictions on visiting the area were lifted. Tourism has always been the one of the country's largest foreign currency earners despite the 19-year civil war, which has left more than 64,500 people dead and 1.6 million displaced. The industry has recently suffered badly since an attack on the international airport by Tamil Tiger rebels, followed by security fears in the wake of September 11. The government and the Tamil rebels have been observing the cease-fire since February. Tourist numbers fell, with the biggest declines among Western European tourists, who make up about half of the annual 400-thousand tourists. You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/4f05ce6d51ddfe3bdc2df9c334ff0d79 Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork