International Desk (National Times)- Siri Lanka has announced resumption of visa on arrival facility for international tourists, except travellers from 10 countries including Pakistan and Nepal.

The on arrival visa facility for foreign tourists was on hold since the pandemic broke out in the country in 2020.

The move is expected to give a much-needed boost to the island nation’s tourism industry, a major forex earner, which has been badly hit by the coronavirus pandemic.

“Issuance of on arrival electronic travel authorisation (ETA) for tourists at the port of entry to Sri Lanka has been activated from 8 February 2022. This is to facilitate the tourists who experience difficulties when obtaining the online ETA due to the time constraints of arranging their journey to Sri Lanka,” according to a recent government statement.

However, the facility would not be available for passport holders of Afghanistan, Pakistan, Syria, Nigeria, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Cameroon, Myanmar, Nepal and North Korea, it said.

Sri Lanka is one of Asia’s most popular travel destinations. In the pre-pandemic days, India was Lanka’s biggest inbound tourism market.

As per official data, some 3,575 Indian tourists have visited Sri Lanka so far this month, while 4,500 visited from Russia and over 3,700 were British travellers.