Daijiworld Media Network - Colombo (SHP)
Colombo, Jul 25: Sri Lanka government has planned to roll out visa on arrival and free visa programme for 39 countries, effective from August 1.
In the past, the programme had excluded countries like India and China. However, on July 10, the Sri Lankan Tourism Ministry included India and China, along with eight other countries including Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Iceland, Philippines, Russia and England.
The announcement came in with a view to promote the tourism industry after a setback faced because of the terror attack which took place on April 21. The attack registered a major blow to several high-end hotels and churches across the country.
The visas-on-arrival was a programme to increase tourist footfalls during the six month off-season from May to October. Unfortunately, this initiative remained suspended after the terror attacks took place.