Sri Lanka to provide free visas to Indians, Chinese and 4 other nationals
On October 24, the cabinet of Sri Lanka approved the grant of free visas to citizens of 6 countries. Free visas travel will begin with immediate effect.
The 6 countries
The countries which will enjoy this policy are India, China, Russia, Malaysia, Japan, Indonesia, and Thailand.
Minister of Foreign Affairs of Sri Lanka M U M Ali Sabry took to twitter to announce the approval of the Cabinet. According to the information provided by him, these country will enjoy free visas for a period of 5 months until 31st March. for now this is a pilot project thus the time period of only 5 months is fixed
He said " Cabinet approves issuing of free visas to India, China, Russia, Malaysia, Japan, Indonesia & Thailand with immediate effect as a pilot project till 31 March".
Beautiful sunset at Arugam Bay another of the best beaches in Sri Lanka
According to local media reports, the ministry of tourism presented a proposal for free visas for the nationals of 5 countries in front of Cabinet. The paper was jointly presented by Sri Lankan Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena, Tourism and Lands Minister Harin Fernando, Minister of Public Security Tiran Alles, and Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Sabry. The cabinet also proposed an e-ticketing system for easy booking of tickets to most tourist sites in the country.
Motive behind this move by Sri Lanka
This move is aimed at increasing the influx of tourists in the country. Since Sri Lanka is an island country, it can exploit on this aspect by attracting tourist for the oceanic view and the greenery.
The tourism ministry said "We are expecting to increase tourist arrivals to five million over the coming years".
With 1,913,702 tourists in 2019, the sector suffered due to pandemic for 2020 and 2021, and has started bouncing back to 719,978 in 20222 and is expected to grow.
Hiriketiya Beach, Sri Lanka
Time and Money Saved
This move by the foreign ministry of Sri Lanka will also save foreign nationals the time and money that gets into applying for visas.
As of now, it cost around 2000rs for an Indian to apply for Sri Lankan Visa.
Hills and Waterfalls
Sri Lanka is a culturally rich country similar to India. The country is filled with forest greenery and Beaches dry zones. The weather is hot and humid as the country is a tropic country.
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