Tourist arrivals could drop below two million this year amidst Visa fiasco: Stakeholders

• Service provider to earn $50 million

By Nishel Fernando  

Tourism Industry veterans cautioned that heightened  confusion over the new visa system, along with the abrupt increase in  visa fees, could derail 2.3 million tourist arrival target set for the  year. This could potentially reduce arrivals below 2 million, while  service providers stand to gain $50 million in fees.  

“We have seen a lot of frustration at the moment,  frustration in people trying to get here; we have seen what people have  written to us. We may not have cancellations right now, but the problem  is that we may not have new bookings for winter,” Sri Lanka Association  of Inbound Tour Operators (SLAITO), Vice President Bobby Jordan Hansen  told reporters in Colombo. 

According to SLAITO’s research, Sri Lanka now has the highest visa fees in the region  

“This is hard to comprehend, especially when over 25 per cent of the cost is attributed to fees charged by an international  issuing company, which does not benefit the tourists or the country.  Based on a base of two million tourists, this would amount to a total of  50 million USD in fees, which seems absurd for a simple process that was  previously executed extremely efficiently and cost-effectively,” it  said.  

SLAITO officials along with tourism industry veterans  lamented that the visa issue would hamper the growth momentum for Sri  Lanka’s tourism industry after a successful winter.  

“So what’s going to happen is that even if hotels keep the  same prices from last year, the package prices are going to shoot up,”   Chairperson of Tangerine Hotels (Pvt) Limited and Sri Lanka Tourism  Promotions Bureau former Director said.  

According to SLAITO, the industry was kept in the dark until the new visa system came into operation on April 17.  
“When they implemented ETA earlier, SLTDA came with the  Department of Emigration and Immigration to brief us, and also a trial  period was given. This time, even the Minister didn’t know,” a SLAITO  member said