Sri Lanka, July 7 -- Tourism has two sides or images which complement each other like the two faces of a coin. First comes the visitors' perception of a country and its people. Unless they like what they see, they won't come.

Then there is the not-so-obvious other side of the coin - the local perception of what the tourists are like. If they don't behave, they are not going to be welcomed.

Sri Lanka is generally well liked as a tourist destination. With few exceptions, visitors looking for authenticity and genuine warmth leave with a good impression, and make positive comments which encourage others to visit. Even when something goes wrong, people rarely making scathing comments on social media. A British couple who were robbed of near...