Sri Lanka, which has been declared bankrupt, is trying to rebuild itself. The present government there is again engaged in strengthening the tourism sector. In this regard, the government there has taken a big decision. Under this, tourist visas will be given free to travellers from India and 6 other countries.
Sri Lankan Foreign Minister, Ali Sabri, on Tuesday (October 24) said that the Sri Lankan Cabinet has approved the policy of issuing free tourist visas to travellers from India and six other countries. This decision will be implemented as a pilot project till March 31, 2024.
Travellers from these countries will get facilities
Ali Sabri, Sri Lanka’s Foreign Minister, said that the countries for whose citizens the Sri Lankan Cabinet has provided this facility include India, China, Russia, Malaysia, Japan, Indonesia and Thailand. Tourists from these countries will be able to get a visa without any fee to visit Sri Lanka. India is traditionally Sri Lanka’s top inbound tourist market.
Most tourists go from India
If we look at the figures of the Sri Lankan government, more than 30,000 people from India visited there in September this year. It is around 26 percent and with this India is on top in this matter. Chinese tourists came in second place with more than 8,000 arrivals. Let us tell you that after the bomb blast on Easter Sunday in 2019, the arrival of tourists on this island had reduced. In that blast, 270 people including 11 Indians were killed and more than 500 were injured.
Sri Lanka is facing an economic crisis
The economic crisis last year led to severe shortages of essential commodities like food, medicine, cooking gas and other fuels, toilet paper and even matches in Sri Lanka, forcing Sri Lankans to rush to shops for months to buy fuel and cooking gas. Was forced to wait in lines outside for hours. This problem still persists.
