Sri Lanka has waived visa fees for visitors from the United Kingdom and dozens of other countries.

Nationals of 40 countries are now eligible to obtain a free electronic travel authorisation (ETA) for Sri Lanka, allowing 30 days of travel.

The Sri Lankan Immigration Department clarified that while there is no fees to pay, nationals from these countries still have to apply for and obtain an ETA to enter the country.

It added that any fees paid by applicants before 25 May, when the changes came into effect, are non-refundable.

Anyone who wants to apply for a visa extension beyond the allotted 30 days can do so, but will have to pay a fee.

The 40 countries that will no longer have to pay the fee include Australia, Austria, Bahrain, Belarus, Belgium, Canada, China, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Iran, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Malaysia, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Poland, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Turkey, UAE, United Kingdom and the United States.

Nationals from these countries holding a diplomatic, official, service or ordinary passport can obtain the ETA for free under the new scheme.

When Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath announced the scheme last year, he said the Sri Lankan government would incur an annual loss of up to £50m by waiving visa fees.

However, the minister expected higher tourist footfall as a result, providing economic gains elsewhere to offset the losses.

Mr Herath said in July last year that Sri Lanka’s tourism industry is “steadily progressing day by day”, with the tourism sector expected to become a “key contributor” to strengthening the national economy.

He said: “We have stabilised the economy, and through policy changes in tourism, we aim to ensure steady growth in arrivals.”

The Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority reports that Sri Lanka has seen 990,032 arrivals so far this year. Numbers drastically reduced in early March amid the outbreak of conflict in the Middle East as flights were cancelled.

In March, the number of arrivals dropped by nearly 20 per cent to 184,000, compared to 229,000 the previous year.

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