Sri Lanka is safe again, says PM
Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has assured travellers that the government has taken all “necessary precautions” by beefing up border security among other measures to ensure safe travel in Sri Lanka.
Addressing a media briefing held at Temple Trees on Wednesday, he noted that they are satisfied with security returning to normal in August and September and as a result would be allowing all key religions in the country to carry out their festivities. The briefing was held to announce the visa fee exemption for 48 countries with effect from August 1.
The famous Esala Perahera in Kandy and other similar Buddhist peraheras in other areas during these two months would take place as usual, he said.
In addition, the Hindu Vel festival in Jaffna and Colombo and the other Catholic festivals conducted at Tewatte, Talawila and Madhu churches would be held, he said.
“Sri Lanka is on its way back on revival of tourism,” he said adding that tourists could avail themselves of concessions and rates that they may not get for a “long, long time”.
He also assured that all persons involved in the ISIS-inspired attack are under custody and that those who would have associated with them numbering around 200 are currently being questioned under the provisions of the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA).
Mr. Wickremesinghe noted that currently the government has experienced a revenue drop but believed that a further revenue drop through the visa fee exemption would be complemented by traditional tourists coming into the country. The visas are free for on-arrival passengers and those applying online.
Tourism Development Minister John Amaratunga announced that following Cabinet approval the government will be granting visa fee exemptions to 48 countries to encourage more tourists to visit the country.
He said they expect a substantial increase in arrivals by the end of this year due to the visa fee exemptions.
But he noted that they expect tourist arrivals to reach about 2 million by the end of the year and responding to a query said that Saudi Arabia and Russia have still not removed their travel advisories against Sri Lanka.
Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau (SLTPB) Chairman Kishu Gomes said that there were a few more steps to be completed in the process of the execution of the JWT promotional campaign and that they would announce it in a few days time.
He also pointed out that Sri Lanka continues to hold the Best Place to Visit title for this year by Lonely Planet and two weeks back the Travel and Leisure Magazine also endorsed the country as the “Best Island to Visit.”
Controller General Immigration Pasan Ratnayake explained that the visa fee exemption will be issued to those persons entering the country as a tourist or business traveller.
He noted that the visa fee exemption is granted for a one month period only and that if travellers wish to extend their visas then they would need to do so on the payment of a fee.
This programme is valid for a period of six months in a bid to attract more tourists to the country in the aftermath of the Easter Sunday attacks on April 21 and its impact on the tourism industry which was hardest hit.
He also explained that the tourist’s details would be obtained through their passports and boarding passes based on the SITA system in place within the airline industry.
This data platform would be used to access information about travellers entering the country, Mr. Ratnayake said.
In future, the e-gates once set up would be used to ease the operation of accessing details of passengers by swiping the passports and for biometric clearance.
He noted that following the Easter Sunday attacks there had been a revenue drop by Rs.1.2 billion and that they would incur a further loss of Rs.4.3 billion by not charging visa fees for the next six months.
Meanwhile, the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA) Chairman Johanne Jayaratne said that the cabinet had granted approval for the reduction of aviation fuel and ground handling charges at the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA).
This would ensure that more airlines would be attracted to fly into Colombo it was noted since the fuel charges would now be similar to the Chennai price structure.
Currently Sri Lanka charges the highest embarkation and fuel payments from the region, Mr. Jayaratne said. The Treasury has also been instructed to defer the implementation of budget proposal to increase the embarkation levy by US$10.
Meanwhile, the SLTDA officer in charge of the relief package by government Kavinda Makalanda said that all financial companies have now come onboard and that they are aware of the relief facilitation provided.
The SLTDA has also provided necessary letters to the small timers affected by the current situation that they could produce to their respective banks who would be willing to take appropriate action to grant them the relief measures based on their past performance.