Sri Lanka waived visa fees for Indians and tourists from six other countries as part of its efforts to boost tourist arrivals

As part of its attempts to increase visitor arrivals and aid in the reconstruction of the island nation's damaged economy in the wake of last year's financial crisis, Sri Lanka eliminated visa fees for visitors from India and six other countries on October 24.    For many years, India has continued to be Sri Lanka's largest source market. Up to September of this year, more than 2 lakh Indian visitors—or 20% of all visitors—had made their way to the island country. 

The Cabinet decided to launch a trial project this week that would grant free tourist visas to visitors from China, India, Russia, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Japan through March 31, 2024. The Department of Government Information released a statement on the weekly Cabinet decisions, stating that the action is a part of "several new programmes" intended to promote Sri Lanka's tourism sector, which, aside from exports and worker remittances, is one of the main sources of foreign exchange earnings for the nation. 

After three significant setbacks in the previous four years—the Easter Sunday terror attacks in 2019, the Covid epidemic in 2020 and 2021, and the historic economic crisis in 2022—Sri Lanka's tourist industry is finding it difficult to recover. Indian travellers had to pay $20 up front for their online visa application. According to authorities, the move to provide free tourist visas is expected to increase the number of visitors, especially from India.