Sri Lanka's top cop wants tourist police in country to learn Hindi, Mandarin

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Colombo: Sri Lanka's Inspector General of Police Pujith Jayasundera has directed the country's tourist police personnel to learn international languages including Hindi, Chinese (Mandarin) and French as the tourism sector is set to be the biggest forex earner for the island nation.

With 206,337 tourists visiting Sri Lanka during the first six months of 2018, India continues to be the leading contributor to the country's inbound tourism market. 

At 136,294, the next highest number of arrivals were from China, the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA) said. "We have to understand the important role played by the tourism sector in the country's economy. In a few years, it is expected to become the largest foreign exchange earner for the country. Therefore, ensuring (the) safety of the foreigners visiting Sri Lanka will be a top priority for the Police force," Jayasundera said. 

"Officers of the Tourist Police Division should pay special attention to language training. In addition to English, they should also learn widely used international languages such as Chinese, Hindi, and French," he added.

The police chief further said 25 new Tourist Police stations would be established across the country to ensure the safety of tourists.