APD | Sri Lanka to outsource visa service for Chinese tourists

By APD writer Easwaran

COLOMBO, Jan 23 (APD) -- Sri Lanka has decided to outsource visa services for Chinese tourists to a sub-agent in China, the Sri Lankan government said on Thursday.

The Government said that the move will help draw more Chinese tourists to Sri Lanka.

Cabinet spokesman Bandula Gunawardena said that some Chinese tourists find it difficult to apply for visas to visit Sri Lanka owing to a language issue.

As a result, the cabinet has decided to outsource visa services for Chinese tourists to a sub-agent based in China.

This will allow Chinese tourists to apply for visas to visit Sri Lanka in the Chinese language.

The Department of Emigration and Immigration has been using the Electronic Travel Authorization System (ETA) since the year 2012 for issuance of pre – check-up and approval to foreign tourists visiting Sri Lanka.

Although attraction of a considerable amount of Chinese tourists to Sri Lanka is apparent, those Chinese tourists are not encouraged due to delays in obtaining visas to visit Sri Lanka as a result of the language barrier resulting from the implementation of Electronic Travel Authorization System (ETA) system only in English at present by Sri Lanka, the Government said.

As a remedy to these circumstances, it has been observed that these tourists are forced to obtain assistance from private agencies when traveling to Sri Lanka.

Accordingly, the proposal submitted by the Minister of Mahaveli, Agriculture, Irrigation, Rural Development, the Minister of Internal Trade, Food Security and Consumer Welfare and the State Minister of National Defense to obtain the service of a private company possessing experience in a number of countries catering to that need, was approved by the cabinet.

(ASIA PACIFIC DAILY)