Ahmedabad, Aug 20 (IANS): Sri Lanka's Tourism Minister Harin Fernando and former cricketer Sanath Jayasuriya, who was recently appointed as tourism ambassador, said on Saturday that it is safe to travel to Sri Lanka now as normalcy has returned in the country following months of political turmoil.

Fernando and Jayasuriya were in Ahmedabad to promote tourism in the island nation.

Addressing mediapersons, Fernando said, "While the crisis is over now, the constant flow of negative news, which do not reflect the true picture in Sri Lanka, is one of the reasons behind the low tourist footfall there. I assure you that Sri Lanka is up and running, Indian tourists are welcome to visit our country. Sri Lanka has lot more to offer other than the beautiful beaches."

Jayasuriya said that Sri Lanka is exploring new avenues to attract more tourists.

"We are looking to give boost to religious tourism for which we are working with different spiritual centres," said the former Sri Lanka captain.

He added that a ferry service between Puducherry and Sri Lanka has already been approved, which is expected to begin operations within four weeks.

"We are also looking to increase connectivity between India and Sri Lanka," Jayasuriya said.