Sri Lanka has taken a big step in getting tourists back to the country, offering free one-month visas on arrival to citizens from almost 50 countries, including Australia.
According to a cabinet document seen by Travel Weekly, the Sri Lankan government began waiving the tourist visa fee for arrivals from 48 countries from 1 August, and will do so for the next six months.
Check out the list of countries below:
- Australia
- Australia
- Belgium
- Bulgaria
- Canada
- Cambodia
- China
- Croatia
- Cyprus
- Czech Republic
- Denmark
- Estonia
- Finland
- France
- Germany
- Greece
- Hungary
- India
- Indonesia
- Iceland
- Ireland
- Israel
- Italy
- Japan
- Latvia
- Lithuania
- Luxembourg
- Malaysia
- Malta
- Netherlands
- New Zealand
- Norway
- Philippines
- Poland
- Portugal
- Romania
- Russia
- Singapore
- South Korea
- Slovak Republic
- Slovenia
- Spain
- Sweden
- Switzerland
- Thailand
- Ukraine
- United Kingdom
- United States of America
Speaking at a press conference, Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said the free visa decision is part of a number of measures that the Sri Lankan government has introduced to boost tourism since the deadly Easter Sunday terror attacks, according to Daily FT.
“Many measures have been taken, including free visas on arrival, reduction in taxes to lower room rates, reduction in ground handling charges and fuel charges for airlines at the airport, and the grant of financial moratorium to stakeholders affected in the tourism industry,” he said.
“All these measures will make it easier for travellers, and certainly more profitable for airlines to come in.”
Wickremesinghe said Sri Lanka was “on its way back to normalcy”, and that all people involved in the terror attacks were in custody, Daily FT reported.
“We would now like to promote Sri Lanka as a destination which is safe for people to visit,” he said.
The Sri Lanka Convention Bureau is also gearing up to showcase the best of what the country has to offer Australian MICE professionals with a unique new roadshow series. You can find out more about this here.
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