Sri Lankan government to re-introduce visa free entry scheme for 39 countries including China and India
Sri Lankan authorities have reported decided to reintroduce and expand a visa free entry scheme for visitors in a bid to revive its flagging tourism sector after the deadly Easter bombings.
The concession for tourists from 39 nations was suspended after Islamists bombed three churches and three luxury hotels in Colombo on 21 April killing 258 people, including 45 foreigners, the AFP has reported.
“As the security situation has improved, the Cabinet of Ministers decided to revive the visa free scheme and also extended it to seven more countries,” the Government of Sri Lanka has said in a statement.
AFP has reported that a tourism official said foreign governments have relaxed travel advisories for Sri Lanka since the attacks.
There has also been a lift in the number of arrivals, which nosedived soon after the bombings blamed on a home-grown jihadist group, the official has said.
The AFP report further stated that the new countries added to the expanded scheme – which already allows travellers from the EU, Australia and the US to enter Sri Lanka without a visa – include China and India.
The report further states that visitors still have to obtain a visa on arrival, but the Government has waived the US$ 35 fee from 1 August.
The month after the attacks, the number of tourists plunged to 37,800, which is a decline from 166,975 in April, according to official figures.
But the numbers had improved last month with some 63,000 visitors.
Sri Lanka welcomed a record 2.33 million tourists in 2018, and was named the world’s top travel destination for 2019 by the Lonely Planet travel guide, the AFP report adds.
OSL take:
The re-introduction of the on arrival visa programme covering 39 countries including key business, especially tourist source markets, like the US, Australia, EU, China and India will definitely boost Sri Lanka’s tourism sector. The government of Sri Lanka was to introduce the programme several months back, but had to postpone following the Easter Sunday attacks in April. However, with the country returning to normalcy and the tourism sector showing growth rates, the latest programme would further increase the number of tourist arrivals to the country. Sri Lanka’s tourism sector also has on offer many attractive packages and deals for the foreign traveler. The country also maintains the top slot in the list of tourist destinations in several leader global travel publications. All this has resulted in an increase in the business potential in Sri Lanka’s tourism sector. Several foreign leisure brands have already announced the launch of projects in Sri Lanka. The expanding business/investment opportunities in Sri Lanka’s tourism sector could be explored by the discerning foreign investor.
| Article Code : | VBS/AT/25072019/Z_7 |