Free visa to be rolled out to boost tourist arrivals

•  SL to offer free visas to China, Russia, India, Thailand and Indonesia 
•  Cabinet paper presented this week, approval expected in upcoming meeting
•  Objective of proposal is to increase tourist arrivals to five million over coming years
•  Tourism Ministry says proposed programme will save money and time spent on obtaining visas

In a bid to increase tourist traffic to Sri Lanka, efforts are being rolled out to offer free visas for five key source markets. 
The Tourism and Lands Ministry yesterday announced that measures have been taken to offer tourists from China, Russia, India, Thailand and Indonesia free visas. 
A Cabinet paper in this regard has been submitted for approval and a nod is expected in the upcoming Cabinet meeting
on Monday. 
The Cabinet paper in this regard was presented as a joint Cabinet paper by Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena, Tourism and Lands Minister Harin Fernando, Public Security Minister Tiran Alas and Foreign Minister Affairs Ali Sabry.
“The purpose of exempting tourists from many countries from visas is to attract more tourists to Sri Lanka. Accordingly, it is expected to increase tourist arrivals to five million over the coming years,” said Fernando in a statement to the media. 
Sri Lanka is also among the 20 countries that China has announced for travel by Chinese tourists.
According to the Tourism Ministry, the proposed programme will save money and time spent on obtaining visas and it is expected that the tendency of foreign tourists to visit Sri Lanka will increase.
Plans are also afoot to propose the setting up of an e-ticketing system for most of the tourist sites in the near future. 
Speaking to Mirror Business, Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority Chairman Priantha Fernando said that while an increase in demand is expected from all the five countries selected for the visa-free scheme, a higher response is likely from India, Russia and China. 
“This is only one of the many steps we have taken to improve tourist arrivals to Sri Lanka. Alongside the free visa offering (to the selected five countries), we are looking at ways to increase the air capacity as well.
Such efforts must take place in parallel and we are taking the necessary measures for this,” he said. 

While the tourism authorities are announcing measures to lure international travellers, a section of the tourism industry stakeholders have expressed displeasure over the recently imposed Minimum Room Rate (MRR) on accommodation and food. 
The stakeholders are of the view that the move to impose the MRR makes Sri Lanka an expensive option for travel, thus reducing its competitiveness when compared with the regional peers.