Sri Lanka opens up for Indian tourists after three months
Sri Lanka last week announced that the country’s tourism market is now open for tourists from India after a lapse of three months. Visitors from India will be permitted into Sri Lanka under strict health guidelines.
India is one of the main source markets for Sri Lanka’s tourism industry.
Indian tourists were restricted in May due to the surge in Covid-19 cases with the highly-infectious Delta variant.
However, latest quarantine guidelines issued by Sri Lanka’s Health Ministry effective from 12 August state that fully-vaccinated foreign nationals arriving from India, including transits, are required to obtain prior approval from Sri Lanka’s Foreign Affairs Ministry and the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA). Also, Indian tourists will be subjected to mandatory PCR tests.
Sri Lanka’s national carrier, SriLankan Airlines, has reportedly said it would immediately include passenger flights to three operating cities, whilst plans are underway to add two more destinations in the near future.
“Currently, the airline operates three cargo flights to Mumbai, Bangalore and Chennai. We hope to include passenger flights to these three destinations immediately,” SriLankan Airlines Worldwide Sales and Distribution Head Dimuthu Tennakoon has told the Daily FT.
He has further noted that plans were underway to add two more passenger flights to New Delhi and Hyderabad in the near future.
OSL take:
India was one of Sri Lanka’s main source markets for tourists when the global Covid 19 pandemic brought about global travel restrictions. While Sri Lanka reopened its borders for tourists earlier this year, travel restrictions had to be imposed of tourists from India for three months due to the surge in Covid cases in India. However, Sri Lanka has once again eased restrictions for tourists arriving in the country including those arriving from India. Sri Lanka has received the internationally recognised safety and hygiene certifications for its airports making it a popular post Covid travel destination. Sri Lanka’s tourism authorities have also carried out an aggressive promotional campaign to boost the industry as well as introduce new tourism concepts that have attracted the attention of the foreign tourists. Foreign businesses/investors could therefore explore the expanding opportunities in Sri Lanka’s tourism industry.
| Article Code : | VBS/AT/18082021/Z_5 |