In January 2024, Experience Travel Group (ETG) organised and led an open letter, published in The Independent.

The signatories warned that FCDO’s official page on Sri Lanka “systematically undermines the travel industry,” and was supported by prominent UK parliamentarians, Sri Lankan travel providers, and celebrities including former cricket star Kumar Sangakkara.

The following month Experience Travel Group joined forces with the Association of Independent Tour Operators, to commission polling of 4,000 people across the UK.

The research revealed that three in every four British tourists (74%) would turn down even a free holiday if Foreign Office travel advice suggested a destination was unsafe.