Sri Lanka has granted approval to issue on-arrival visa to tourists from countries, including India and China, aiming to revive its flagging tourism sector after the deadly Easter bombings.
The countries included, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom, United States of America, Japan, Australia, South Korea, Canada, Singapore, New Zealand, Malaysia, Thailand and Switzerland.
But on Wednesday, Sri Lanka’s Tourism Ministry approved the pilot project to issue a free visa on arrival to 10 additional countries, including Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Iceland, Philippines, Russia, China, India and England.
Sri Lanka’s tourist arrivals declined 7.5% in April 2019 compared to the same period last year, according to the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority’s first monthly report since the terror attacks.
The visas on arrival pilot program was part of a larger initiative to increase tourist arrivals to the country during the six month off-season period from May to October.
