Tourism needs simple immigration procedures - Prof Abeyratne
Indunil HEWAGE
The Sri Lankan tourism industry needs simple, liberalized immigration
procedures, new entry visa policies particularity new online visa
application procedures with more regional entry points in the northern
area by air or sea to promote Sri Lanka as a favourite destination among
Indian tourists.
Dr Srimal Abeyratne |
Addressing the seminar on “India as a source market for tourism
industry of Sri Lanka and too big to be ignored,” Colombo University
Economics Professor Dr Srimal Abeyratne said the country needs to adopt
a relaxed visa policy to attract more Indian tourists while establishing
greater economic integration with India.
“It is a timely need to identify the true potential of the Indian
traveller’s contribution to the local tourism industry and national
income. Immigration and emigration policies of India and Sri Lanka must
also be constituted with law enforcements, surveillance and sound
information.
“Understanding and catering to different Indian tourist interests and
markets will definitely pave way for the Sri Lankan tourism industry to
successfully achieve long-term goals,” Abeyratne said.
According to recently published tourism industry projections, the Sri
Lankan tourism industry aspires to record 139,651, 181,547 and 518,515
Indian tourists to Sri Lanka by 2011, 2012 and 2016 respectively. |