Working committee to advice Tourism Ministry on imposing travel bans

A working committee was established on Saturday (5 June) to advice the Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation on the countries that should be placed on the red list, so that Sri Lanka has minimal imported COVID-19 cases.

In addition to providing advice on which countries travel restrictions should be imposed, the committee will also provide insights into streamlining the travel ban process.

“The committee’s role is to perform a logical and timely analysis before passengers from a particular country are restricted from arriving and to streamline the mechanism in order to have minimum disruption to the tourism / civil aviation industries and to cause minimum inconvenience to passengers,” the Civil Aviation Authority (CAASL) said in a letter to key industry stakeholders over the weekend.

The committee would meet on a regular basis and when the requirement arises, the letter added.

Furthermore, the Ministry of Tourism has advised that the newly established committee should comprise of; the Ministry of Tourism/Civil Aviation Secretary, State Ministry of Aviation and Export Zones Development Secretary, Director General of Civil Aviation, Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA) Director General, SLTDA Advisor Nimesh Herath, CAASL Senior Civil Aviation Inspector - Aviation Medicine Dr. Bimal Dias, and CAASL Director Rayhan Wanniappa, Director-CAASL, who will serve as the secretary of the committee. 

Since the spread of the third wave, Sri Lanka has banned travellers from a number of countries from disembarking in its international airports. 

Travel restrictions were placed on travellers from India and Vietnam in the recent months, and from Friday (June 4), travellers from South Africa and South America were also banned from entering the island nation until further notice.

According to the guidelines shared by the relevant authorities, passengers with a travel history, including transit, in the past 14 days, to the countries and regions falling under the travel ban, will not be allowed to enter Sri Lanka.