Sri Lanka’s long-delayed free visa policy for select countries is set to take effect within the next one to two months, Tourism Minister Vijitha Herath yesterday announced, as the Government moves to finalise and gazette the regulation.
“We are finalising the process to gazette and submit the new regulation to Parliament for approval. After that, we expect it to be implemented within one to two months,” he said in response to a query posed at the weekly post-Cabinet meeting media briefing yesterday.
Originally announced in August 2024 by the previous administration, the free visa scheme, covering 35 countries was intended to take effect from 1 October 2024(https://www.ft.lk/top-story/Presidential-boost-for-tourism-with-free-visa-to-35-nationals/26-765842), but was repeatedly delayed due to the Government transition.
In July this year, the Minister confirmed that the list had been expanded to 47 countries, adding that while the Treasury might lose an estimated $ 66 million annually in visa revenue, the policy is expected to yield higher indirect earnings through increased tourist spending (https://www.ft.lk/front-page/Cabinet-nod-to-rollout-free-visa-policy-for-40-more-countries-Vijitha/44-779517).
Tourism industry experts noted that the move was too late to woo tourists for the winter season. “They wasted the opportunity to launch a global campaign for almost a year and are now scrambling at the last moment to implement a free-visa initiative. Unlocking growth requires urgent action, consistent policy and real partnership with the private sector. Without this, accolades and potential will continue to be wasted,” they told the Daily FT.
Herath also said Sri Lanka’s original 2025 target of 3 million tourist arrivals has been revised down to 2.4 million, with efforts now focused on achieving that goal in the remaining two months of the year.
Noting that the country has already surpassed 1.8 million arrivals year-to-date (YTD), he pointed out that they are now intensifying efforts to attract more visitors, particularly from European markets, to boost both tourist numbers and revenue.
“Sri Lanka aims to reach 2.4 million visitors by year-end. We are trying our best to reach that target. We don’t know whether we will succeed or not,” he added.
As per the latest data released by the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA), the country has so far welcomed 137,876 tourists in the first 26 days of October, reflecting a 22% year-on-year (YoY) growth, whilst propelling the cumulative figure to over 1.86 million visitors, accounting for around 62% of the full-year target. The revised arrivals target, quietly acknowledged by the SLTDA in its Growth Scenarios report (https://www.sltda.gov.lk/storage/common_media/Growth_Scenarios_2025_final_1.pdf) aligns, where its projections outline three potential outcomes— a ‘Lower Scenario’ of 2.415 million arrivals, a ‘Conservative Scenario’ of 2.676 million and an ‘Optimistic Scenario’ of 3 million. Given this trajectory, Sri Lanka appears likely to fall short of the 2.676 million Conservative target and will need a significant surge in November and December to even meet the 2.415 million ‘Lower Scenario’ target.
However, the Minister noted that passenger volumes and flight operations are expected to increase significantly during the next two months, supported by new airline schedules and expanded routes, citing Kuwait Airways, Belarus’s national carrier Belavia Airlines, Russia’s Red Wings Airlines and Edelweiss, a subsidiary of SWISS International Air Lines, commencing operations to BIA and Mattala International Airport.
“During the winter season, Russian arrivals will increase significantly with the charter flights operating to Mattala,” he added.
India continues to lead Sri Lanka’s tourist source markets YTD, followed by the United Kingdom and Russia. Herath noted that as a percentage European tourists have visited the most which are also considered the high-end travellers.
He also pointed to several new promotional campaigns underway to draw more European visitors, including targeted efforts in Scandinavian countries and the UK.
The Minister also said tourism revenue reached $ 2.47 billion in the first nine months, less than half of the Government’s $ 5 billion annual revenue goal.
Sri Lanka earned $ 3.17 billion in tourism revenue in 2024, marking a 53.2% increase from $ 2.07 billion in 2023. Tourist arrivals also rose 38.1% year-on-year to 2.05 million, though the country missed its 2.3 million arrivals and $ 4 billion revenue targets for 2024.
Tourism, which once contributed nearly 5% to Sri Lanka’s GDP, has faced severe setbacks since its 2018 peak due to the Easter Sunday attacks in 2019, the COVID-19 pandemic 2020 and the economic crisis 2022. Thus, the year 2018 remains the industry’s benchmark, when the country recorded 2.33 million arrivals and over $ 4.5 billion in revenue.
