While the Government is working to expand the number of countries eligible for free visa facilities, the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA) stated that the process is expected to be finalised by the end of this month.
When contacted, SLTDA Chairperson Priantha Fernando told The Daily Morning yesterday (2) that the Ministry of Tourism has submitted a joint Cabinet paper with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to seek Government approval for this expansion.
“Recently, the President appointed an inter-ministerial committee to look into the visa policy. They are reportedly planning to submit their proposals by the middle of this month. Accordingly, we hope that a final decision would likely be reached towards the end of this month,” said Fernando.
He also noted that the proposal aims to increase the number of countries with free visa access to over 60. Fernando further emphasised the potential benefits, noting that the SLTDA supports the initiative as it is expected to significantly boost tourist arrivals and generate a surplus in tourism income.
Last month (June), Minister of Tourism Harin Fernando said that the country must issue free visas to tourists for more countries in order to compete with its regional competitors and to achieve the nation’s ambitious target of 2.3 million tourist arrivals within the year. The Minister expressed that the special committee report on the proposal to issue free visas to tourists from 67 countries will be presented to the Cabinet of Ministers within the next two weeks. Furthermore, Fernando revealed a number of initiatives by the Government intended to attract more tourists to the country.
“Our competitors, the Maldives, Thailand, Cambodia, Malaysia, and Singapore all offer free visa facilities. We have seen a significant increase in the number of requests for six-months, multiple entry visas. There has been a similar increase in the number of requests for one-year, two-year, and five-year visas. However, in order to be competitive as a tourist destination, we must relax the regulations for single entry visas as well,” he noted.