The Sri Lankan Cabinet has given its approval for a policy aimed at offering free tourist visas to travelers from India and six additional countries. Foreign Minister Ali Sabry announced this decision as part of ongoing efforts to rejuvenate the tourism sector in the island nation, which is currently burdened by significant debt. This initiative is established as a pilot project and will remain effective until March 31, 2024.
Effective immediately, tourists from India, China, Russia, Malaysia, Japan, Indonesia, and Thailand will be granted free entry to Sri Lanka without visa fees. India traditionally serves as Sri Lanka’s primary source of inbound tourism, with the latest figures for September indicating over 30,000 arrivals from India, comprising 26 percent of the total, while Chinese tourists were the second-largest group with over 8,000 arrivals. The country’s tourism industry had faced a decline since the 2019 Easter Sunday bombings, which resulted in 270 casualties, including 11 Indians, and left more than 500 individuals injured.
Sri Lanka, grappling with substantial economic challenges since gaining independence from Britain in 1948, is simultaneously grappling with political unrest, with protesters demanding the resignation of President Rajapaksa. This economic crisis has led to acute shortages of essential commodities such as food, medicine, cooking gas, fuel, toilet paper, and even matches. As a result, Sri Lankans have endured long hours of waiting in lines outside stores to purchase these necessities over the course of several months.
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