Free-visa scheme aimed at tourism recovery goes live

The proposed free-visa scheme for 48 countries comes into effect from today for the next six months, aiming to speed up the recovery of the Sri Lanka tourism industry in the aftermath of the Easter Sunday attacks. 

The scheme has been extended to key tourism source markets of Sri Lanka, including the top two markets, India and China.

The other countries that are covered by the scheme are the United Kingdom, Thailand, the United States, Australia, South Korea, Canada, Singapore, New Zealand, Malaysia, Switzerland, Cambodia, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Iceland, Russia, Japan and the EU nations.

Announcing the free-visa scheme yesterday at the Temple Trees, Tourism Development, Wildlife and Christian Religious Affairs Minister John Amaratunga said that the government is expecting a substantial increase in tourist arrivals from the above countries during the next six months.  The visa-fee waiver will be applicable for one-month 
short-term visas.

Immigration and Emigration Controller General R.M.P.S.B. Rathnayake said they are likely to incur a revenue loss of Rs.4.3 billion due to the visa-fee waiver. 

The Immigration and Emigration Department has already experienced a Rs.1.2 billion loss in income due to the slowdown of the tourism industry, following the Easter Sunday attacks. 
However, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe emphasised that the scheme would result in supporting the economy to pick up with the anticipated increase in tourist arrivals. 

“The revenue loss will be compensated by the fact that additional tourists are coming. With more tourists coming to the country, the economy will pick up,” he said. 

Although there will be the on arrival visa facility at Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA), Rathnayake urged all tourists to apply for online electronic travel authorisation to avoid congestions.

Wickremesinghe stated that the security would be beefed up to ensure the safety of all during the islandwide religious festivals, which are also tourist attractions. 

“In the month of August and September, we will be holding all traditional festivals, including the Kandy Esala Perahera and other connected processions from Mahiyangaya to Devinuwara. The Hindu festivals in Jaffna and in Colombo will also be held,” he said.

He assured that the government has taken all precautionary measures to ensure safety. 

While offering attractive airfare rates and attractive hotel room rates, Wickremesinghe said that the government would take measures to promote Sri Lanka as a safe destination for tourists. 

Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA) Chairman Johanne Jayaratne said that the recent Cabinet decision to reduce airport charges would come into force from next week.  
The Cabinet recently approved to revise the ground handling charges, aviation fuel prices and embarkation levy at BIA, which would result in a 20-25 percent reduction in operational costs of airlines. 

Speaking on the visa-fee waiver, Amaratunga said that if the scheme is not successful, the government could terminate it at anytime and likewise, extend the scheme to other countries and regions such as the Middle East, based on the requests and success of the scheme. 

Meanwhile, Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau (SLTPB) Chairman Kishu Gomes stated that the tourism industry was recovering faster than the earlier anticipated rate with tourist arrivals in July expected to recover by 80 percent month-on-month to 117,000, from 63,000 arrivals in June.  

Considering the current trends, Gomes believes the tourist arrivals to reach 1.9 to two million, compared to 2.3 million arrivals, last year.

Similarly, he said the revenue loss would be contained in the range of US $ 800 million to US $ 1 billion from the initially anticipated US $ 1.5 billion. 

As of July 27, he said the daily tourist arrivals have reached 4,200 levels, from 3,000-3,300 daily arrivals in the first week of the month. (NF)