Harin backs doing away with visas altogether for tourists

As the Cabinet is currently considering extending free visa travel to tourists from 67 countries, Tourism Minister Harin Fernando opined that Sri Lanka should consider doing away with visa altogether for tourists.

“Travelling should be simple as getting off the plane and getting out,” Fernando told reporters in Colombo yesterday. 

In this context, he noted that regulations such as visa are not needed and would facilitate a seamless and hassle-free travel experience to tourists.

Fernando noted that the president has appointed an inter-ministerial secretary committee to formulate a national policy on visa, which is expected to be presented in Parliament after a month’s period. 

In a recent interview with Mirror Business, Intrepid Travel Chairman and its Co-Founder Darrell Wade also shared a similar view. He pointed out that the government gathers sufficient information by connecting to with the airline global distribution systems (GDS) to identify people who are coming into the country. 

“You only need to connect with the airline GDS; then you have enough information and the people can be stamped in for two or four weeks or whatever the government wants (at the point of arrival),” he said.

According to him, e-visas are still a friction point, although it’s an improvement. 

SLAITO Vice President Bobby Jordan Hansen addressing a press conference in Colombo, expressed concerns on the processing time period, privacy issues and high costs affiliated to Sri Lanka’s new e-visa process.  

“Earlier, you could get a visa on the same day; now, they say it’s a minimum of three days. Even if you don’t put your photograph correctly, they will reject your visa. There’s lot of invasion of privacy (with the question listed on the online application),” she said. 

Hansen also highlighted that the families planning to visit Sri Lanka are now likely to look at alternative and less costly destinations, such as Thailand and Vietnam, due to high visa fees.

“Earlier, visa were free for children below certain age. Now, even a 10-year-old child has to pay for visa. Even for free visa, US $ 25 fee is applicable now. 

Let’s say a family of four coming from Scandinavia; they have to pay US $ 500 at the outset, before putting any money down on anything else. In addition, I must say there’s US $ 60 fee in our ticket as the embarkation fee,” she added. (NF)