Over Rs. 1.2 b revenue from on line visa system this year

Rasika Somarathna

The revenue earned through the on line visa approval system introduced at the beginning of this year has surpassed Rs. one billion mark.

The Controller General of the Immigration and Emigration Chulananda Perera said the revenue earned through the above has exceeded Rs. 1.2 billion.

The government introduced the Electronic Travel Authorization (ETA) system on January 01.

The new system replaced the old one of granting visa on arrival at the port of entry to nationals from 78 countries for short visits. On the basis of reciprocity, citizens of Singapore and The Maldives are exempt from the requirement of obtaining ETA to visit Sri Lanka. Perera said the ETA has become very popular with visitors to the country.

"We have received very positive responses from a large number of foreigners about the system. The quick approval process, technology, easy to use and the long list of convenient features have earned the praise of visitors," Perera said.

"Some sectors voiced concern on the introduction of such a system before it came in to being in January 2012.They opined that this could have an adverse effect on tourist arrivals. Contrary to these beliefs, tourist arrivals to the country have kept rising at a very appreciable level," he said.

"During the first five months of 2012, revenue from tourism had risen 26 percent from the same period last year to US $399 million," Central Bank data shows. Sri Lanka expects to raise the number of arrivals to 2.5 million and earn an annual revenue of US$ 2.75 billion by 2016.