Citizens of 35 countries, including China, India, the United Kingdom, and the United States, will be able to enter Sri Lanka visa-free for six months beginning October 1, 2024. Participating countries include the United Arab Emirates (UAE), South Korea, Japan, Saudi Arabia, Canada, France, Germany, Japan Indonesia, Thailand and Australia. The program’s overarching goal is to increase tourism.
This is in continuation of a previous initiative that ran from last year to March 2024. The visa-on-arrival option would still be available to Indian travellers until the new policy takes effect.
The e-visa portal run by IVS-GBS and VFS Global was recently suspended by Sri Lanka’s Supreme Court, which caused some confusion. However, Sri Lanka’s tourist industry is vital to the country’s economy. With 246,922 arrivals in the first half of 2024, India is the leading source of tourists, followed by the UK with 123,992 visitors.
With an increase of $875 million over the previous year, Sri Lanka’s tourism industry brought in $1.5 billion in the first half of 2024. India, China, and European countries are important markets, and the government’s new visa policy is likely to increase these numbers even more.
