The Sri Lankan Cabinet, under the leadership of Foreign Minister Ali Sabry, has endorsed a policy to grant complimentary tourist visas to visitors from India and six other nations. This initiative is part of ongoing endeavours to revitalize Sri Lanka's tourism industry, which has been burdened by significant debt.
According to a statement by Foreign Minister Sabry, this program will be implemented as a pilot project and will remain in effect until March 31, 2024. The Cabinet has given its approval for immediate free entry for travellers from India, China, Russia, Malaysia, Japan, Indonesia, and Thailand.
Visitors hailing from these countries will now have the opportunity to acquire visas for Sri Lanka without any associated fees. Notably, India has consistently held its position as Sri Lanka's primary source of inbound tourism.
In the September arrival figures, India topped with over 30,000 arrivals or 26 per cent with Chinese tourists trailing at over 8,000 arrivals as the second largest group.
Tourist arrivals to the island had slumped since the 2019 Easter Sunday bombings that left 270 persons, including 11 Indians, dead and over 500 injured.
Sri Lanka, which has been grappling with unprecedented economic turmoil since its independence from Britain in 1948, is also facing political unrest with protesters demanding President Rajapaksa's resignation.
The economic crisis has prompted an acute shortage of essential items like food, medicine, cooking gas and other fuel, toilet paper and even matches, with Sri Lankans for months being forced to wait in lines lasting hours outside stores to buy fuel and cooking gas.
