Just when we were looking at a brighter future ahead

I AM devastated by the attacks in Sri Lanka for so many reasons.

For the victims and their families and for a country that has been through so much in the last 40 years, with a complicated, horrible, long war, then the terrible tsunami. Just when everyone was looking forward to a brighter future, this happens.

What makes it worse is that nobody really knows why.

The source of this tragedy does not appear to be the traditional forces of conflict. There have been one or two minor clashes between the old rival groups, the Tamils from the north and the Sinhalese people from the south, since the end of the war but no one has ever targeted Christians or tourists before.

What makes it particularly sad is that the Sri Lankan Christians are made up of both Sinhalese and Tamils. I was born in Sri Lanka in 1954, lived there until I was 18, and am back and forth all the time. It feels like home.

I was in Sri Lanka as recently as two weeks ago and there was never any worry that something like this was about to happen. It’s completely out of the blue. The concern right now will be the repercussions. And the first thing that will happen is an awful lot of people planning holidays to Sri Lanka will think twice about going.

There was a political crisis through October/November and a lot of people cancelled their holidays.

Tourism in Sri Lanka has taken off in recent years but it still lags behind other Asian countries.

This is a massive setback. ■■ David is chairman at Investis Digital, a communications firm