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.

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.