Sri Lanka slashes visa fee

Sri Lanka has slashed the visa fee it planned to charge tourists from India and other South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) countries to US$10 from the originally planned US$50.

Non-Indian and non-SAARC nation visitors would, however, be charged US$20. India raised concerns in late October over the Sri Lankan immigration’s decision to levy a visa processing fee of US$50 under the island nation’s new Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) system from 1 January 2012.

In terms of visitor arrivals, India has now replaced Britain as the country with the most tourist arrivals to the island nation.

In September, Indian tourist arrivals to Sri Lanka had risen by 50% year-on-year, contributing to a 27% rise overall. Travellers from the Maldives and Singapore are exempted from ETA and the processing fee.

28 Nov 2011

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