Sri Lanka's tourism industry looks to new president to rebuild fortunes

People walk along a road in the Dutch Fort, in Galle, Sri Lanka. - Reuters

GALLE, Sri Lanka: Tourists were busy spooning up ice-cream on the verandah of Tariq Nassim's home at the picturesque Galle Fort in Sri Lanka, the centre of a boom in tourism during the island nation's nascent recovery from its worst economic crisis in decades.

Nassim's 'Dairy King', which sells 22 flavours of homemade ice-cream, was just one of thousands of businesses crushed by the crisis that erupted after foreign exchange fell to critical lows, squeezing imports of essentials from fuel to fertiliser.