MUMBAI, 19 February 2024: Sri Lanka’s Minister of Tourism and Lands, Sports, and Youth Affairs Harin Fernando says he is hopeful visa-free travel for seven nationalities will be extended beyond 31 March.
“Hopefully, it can be extended… I’ve got the figures on what we earn from the USD20 tourist visa and what we earn from a tourist’s visit… If the trigger is achieving an increase in tourism revenue, then relaxing visas is the way to go.”
He was commenting on visa-free travel during a panel discussion held on the sidelines of the recent OTM travel show, held in Mumbai, India.
Under an immigration bureau concession, nationals from seven countries can visit Sri Lanka visa-free until 31 March 2024. Nationals from China, India, Indonesia, Russia, Thailand, Malaysia, and Japan are granted visa-free entry following a cabinet decision that launched the pilot programme on 24 October 2023 to revitalise the tourism industry.
Travellers can stay up to 30 days with the option of a double entry from the initial entry date. The only requirement is to log online to get an Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) before travelling to Sri Lanka.
In a speech presented at the OTM’s Sri Lanka Networking Evening event, the minister confirmed the country’s tourist arrivals are recovering, with January recording 208,253 visitors, an increase of 106% compared to January 2023. He added that during the first six days of February, tourist arrivals reached 48,000. January’s top 10 source markets are India, Russia, the UK, Germany, China, France, Poland, Australia, the US and the Netherlands.
The minister noted that 9,000 tourists a day arrive at Colombo’s international airports… flights are full, and the target for 2024 is 2.5 million international tourists. In 2023, the country targeted 1.5 million visitors and closed the year with 1.439 million or around 11,000 arrivals short of its goal.
