COLOMBO – The Sri Lanka cabinet of ministers has approved a pilot project for issuance of free tourist visas to tourists from seven countries in order to promote tourism in the country.

“Currently, many Asian tourist destinations are competing to raise their tourism market, which has fallen due to the Covid epidemic. Most of the countries are taking steps to provide visa free of charge to tourists. Therefore , several new tourism promotion programs have been planned for the promotion of the Sri Lankan tourism industry, which is slow due to the Easter Sunday attack, the Covid epidemic and the subsequent serious economic crisis,” read the official statement.

Sri Lank aim to increase the number of tourists coming to Sri Lanka to five million in a year in the next 3 years.

Full List of Eligible Countries for Free Tourist Visa

Under the programme, free tourist visa will be issued to the tourists from the following countries until March 31, 2024:

China

India

Russia

Thailand

Indonesia

Malaysia

The Sri Lankan government has not included Pakistan in the list of free tourist visa countries. Therefore tourists from the South Asian country are required to apply for the tourist visa and pay the fee prior to leaving for the island nation.

Furthermore, the government has decided to provide opportunities for easy access to world heritage and historical places for foreign tourists without traffic jams.

“For this purpose, issuing a single payment package ticket for all the relevant places and providing the opportunity to buy the ticket at the airport or through the online system,” it added.

“Providing the tickets required for the Sri Lanka Railways tourist coaches through the online system or providing the opportunity to purchase them at the airport as a one-time ticket,” the statement said.