Jakarta, IO – The Sri Lankan government has approved a temporary visa-free policy for tourists from seven countries, including Indonesia. This program will start immediately and is valid until March 31, 2024.
“The cabinet has approved the issuance of free visas to India, China, Russia, Malaysia, Japan, Indonesia and Thailand immediately, as a pilot project until March 31,” announced Sri Lankan Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Sabry, Wednesday (25/10).
This policy was set about a week after Sri Lanka’s Ministry of Tourism presented a cabinet paper at its previous meeting. This paper proposes issuing free tourist visas to foreigners from five countries, who plan to visit Sri Lanka for tourism.
Read: Indonesia Urges UN Security Council To Stop Israel-Palestine Conflict
Apart from visa-free entry, Sri Lanka also plans to implement an e-ticket system in many tourist destinations in the country as part of its plan to attract 5 million tourists by 2026, per Kompas.
In 2023, tourists from India account for the majority of arrivals of 200,310, followed by Russia (132,300). (bp)