Sri Lanka announces free visa on arrival for tourists from India & China from August 1

In a bid to revive its flagging tourism post the Easter-day bombings, Sri Lanka has announced free visa on arrival for tourists from India and China. This scheme will come into force from August 1, 2019. The country’s former plan to grant visas on arrival for citizens of 39 countries was suspended due to the bombings. Three churches and three luxury hotels in Colombo were bombed on 21 st April, killing 258 people, causing a setback. Originally the scheme was to come in force from May 1 onwards, however, the security reasons post the traumatic incident put the plan on hold. The visas on arrival pilot programme was part of a larger initiative to increase tourist arrivals to the country during the six-month off-season period from May to October. The visa on arrival scheme has also be re-launched for the 39 suspended countries. It already allowed tourists from Thailand, the European Union, the UK, the US, Japan, Australia, Switzerland, Cambodia.