Sri Lanka is on the road to recovery by attracting more tourists, especially from Asia and Europe, after authorities announced visa-free entry for nationals from seven countries, officials and industry insiders said.
At present, many Asian destinations are vying with each other to revive their tourism industries, which were hit by COVID-19, said Sumit Batabyal, director of Kolkata-based Wandervogel Tours and Travels.
He said policies such as visa-free entry “will certainly go a long way in generating more revenue” for Sri Lanka, which is facing an “acute financial crisis”.
The country’s tourism industry aims to attract 2 million visitors this year, up from a previous target of 1.5 million.
Sri Lanka’s cabinet last week also approved a proposal to offer free visas to citizens of seven countries, according to Tourism and Lands Minister Harin Fernando.
The plan, which will benefit tourists from India, China, Russia, Malaysia, Japan, Indonesia and Thailand, is a pilot project that will end on 31 March next year, he said on X, formerly Twitter.
Priantha Fernando, chairman of the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority, said the country had just crossed 1.1 million tourist arrivals in the first 10 months of 2023.
For Europe, the traditional markets have been the UK, Germany and France.
Priantha Fernando said the visa waiver plan was expected to increase arrivals from the three main markets “by 12 to 15 per cent”.
“What we are trying to do is to start experimenting … to see how best we can increase the numbers from those markets,” he said.
‘Great stimulus’
He expressed a desire to see more Chinese tourists. “With Sri Lanka being listed among the top 20 countries for Chinese travel, we want to take advantage of that and increase air services between the countries.”
Rajiv Mehra, president of the Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO) described the timely move as “fantastic”.
“The visa fee waiver will certainly be a big boost for tourists from India to Sri Lanka,” he said.
Priantha Fernando said Sri Lanka has everything in 65,000 square kilometres – sea, sun and sand, nature, wildlife, heritage, culture, wellness, marine tourism and friendly people.
“Sri Lanka is also a great place for adventure lovers, not only from India but from all over the world,” said Mehra, who is also the director of New Delhi-based Uday Tours & Travel.
