Sri Lanka to outsource visa services for Chinese tourists

The government has decided to outsource visa services for Chinese tourists to a Shanghai-based sub-agent in a bid to boost Chinese tourist arrivals to Sri Lanka.

The Cabinet Office stated that Chinese tourists struggle to apply for visas to visit Sri Lanka as current Electronic Travel Authorization (ETA) process is only available in English language. 
Accordingly, the Cabinet of Ministers on Wednesday approved the proposal presented by Mahaweli Development, Agriculture and Trade Minister and Defence State Minister Chamal Rajapaksa to obtain services of Shnghai-based Travelzen International Travel Services Ltd in this regard.  

The Cabinet Office stated that Travelzen International Travel Services Ltd. currently delivers similar services to several other countries. 

China is currently the third largest source market for Sri Lanka tourism with 167,863 tourist arrivals in 2019.