COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — According to a government official, the Sri Lankan government has decided to provide visitors from India with the option of obtaining an Electronic Travel Authorization (ETA) upon arrival in order to increase tourist arrivals this year.
According to a representative from the Sri Lanka tourism sector, this facility is already available for arrivals from some European countries, including Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands, and Poland, and it has now been expanded to include tourists from India, which is a significant source market for the island nation’s tourism industry.
According to official statistics, India was the most important source of tourist arrivals in Sri Lanka in 2021, accounting for 56,268 visitors. The ETA function was available to international visitors in Sri Lanka, but it was temporarily discontinued following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in the country in 2020.
It has recently been announced that Sri Lanka would reduce its tourist arrival prediction for 2022 from 2.3 million to 1.1 million as a result of difficulties associated with the Omicron variation. 4.3 percent of Sri Lanka’s Gross Domestic Product was derived from tourism in 2019, which provided employment possibilities to 402,607 individuals.
