Sri Lanka implements free tourist visas to nationals from India, China, Russia and 4 other countries

The Department of Immigration and Emigration has announced that Indian tourists along with China, Russia, Malaysia, Japan, Indonesia, and Thailand would receive free tourist visas with immediate effect. The decision is believed to have been taken to boost the tourism sector of the country. India is traditionally Sri Lanka’s top inbound tourism market. The pilot project to offer free visas for the first 30 days would be in force till March 31, 2024, it said, adding that the travellers would be given dual entry status on arrival and the visa validity would be limited to 30 days’ stay in the island nation. The facility follows a Cabinet decision from October to issue free tourist visas to travellers from India, China, Russia, Malaysia, Japan, Indonesia, and Thailand amidst efforts to rebuild the debt-trapped island nation’s tourism sector that had slumped since the 2019 Easter Sunday bombings. In October 2023, arrival figures for India topped with over 28,000 arrivals or 26 per cent with Russian tourists trailing at over 10,000 arrivals as the second largest group. The British tourists were placed third with over 8,000 arrivals. Tourist arrivals to the island nation had slumped since the 2019 Easter Sunday bombings that left 270 persons, including 11 Indians, dead and over 500 injured. Sri Lanka has been grappling with unprecedented economic turmoil, which has prompted an acute shortage of essential items like food, medicine, cooking gas and other fuel, toilet paper, and even matches. In March, the International Monetary Fund agreed on a USD 3 billion bailout to Sri Lanka to revive its ailing economy. With inputs from PTI.