Sri Lanka police to track tourists
Hotels and guesthouses in Sri Lanka have been told to hand over to the police the passport and visa details of all their foreign visitors.
A police spokesman told the Daily Telegraph the move was to ensure the safety of tourists to the Indian Ocean island.
The paper quoted Buddhika Siriwardena saying: "Tourists are important to our economy. This is to ensure their own safety. This scheme will ensure officers will have details of tourists in their areas to protect them."
Hotels are obliged to provide the information under an 1866 ordinance, in addition to the data already collected by the authorities for tourism industry statistics.
While the Foreign Office states that violent crime against foreigners is "infrequent", the move comes following the death of a British national, Khuram Shaikh, who was attacked at a southern resort of Tangalle on Christmas Day in 2011.
He was shot and stabbed after trying to break up a fight in a hotel bar.
Two European tourists were also beaten up in central Sri Lanka last month.
Linsey McNeill
Editor Linsey McNeill has been writing about travel for more than three decades. Bylines include The Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian and Which? plus the South China Morning Post. She also shares insider tips on thetraveljournalist.co.uk
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