Since the end of the 26 year Civil War in 2009, the Sri Lankan Government is keen to cultivate the image of a peaceful country which is welcoming to foreign tourists. National and international investment has vastly improved most of the road infrastructure of the island and, in 2014, just over 1.5 million tourists visited Sri Lanka, compared to just over 40,000 in 2010. The government is keen to attract wealthy tourists from Western Europe, China and North America by developing luxury resorts in Kuchchaveli, Passikudah and Kalpitiya; areas that are all located in the north or the east of the island which were especially affected by the Civil War.
However, it is alleged that large scale tourism projects are having an adverse effect on local communities and, in some cases, the local habitat. At Kalpitiya, on the north-west coast, there are plans to establish 17 luxury hotels accommodating up to 10,000 beds. However, this appears to be at a high cost to the local fishing communities who have reportedly been forced off their lands and who have been denied access to the sea. It has also been reported that construction work is destroying areas of mangroves where local people once fished for prawns and other shellfish.