In the first 30 days of May Sri Lanka has welcomed 108,656 tourists up 30 percent from 83,309 a year earlier but down from 148,867 in April.

A controversial deal with VFS Global which led foreigners and outsourced workers manning immigration point at the main airport, also resulted in a user-unfriendly website, as well as visas rising to 107 dollars from 51.

Though a fight back by Tourism Minister Harin Fernando against the deal led to a 50-dollar visa being re-introduced, the problems with a user-unfriendly website compared to the earlier easy-to-us one remain, with complaints continuing in online forums.

A controversy has also blown up between Sri Lanka and Maldives after VFS Global started charging fees from Maldives visitors.

Sri Lanka has a reciprocal visa exemption arrangement with the Maldives and there are fears that VFS style fees may be slapped on Sri Lankans who may also face the hassle of getting VFS-style visa.

At the moment Maldives only requires online disembarkation information to be filled when a Sri Lankan visits.

Sri Lanka risks foreign retaliation over VFS visa deal

“Following the announcement of a new e-visa system in Sri Lanka, the Ministry has been engaged in discussions with Sri Lankan counterparts to ensure a smooth transition for Maldivian travellers,” Maldives’ Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

“For those Maldivians who are already in Sri Lanka and require a visa extension may contact the Maldives High Commission in Colombo.”

“The Ministry is committed to establishing a visa process that reflects the current visa agreement between the Maldives and Sri Lanka and ensures reciprocity for Maldivian travellers.

“Discussions with Sri Lankan authorities are ongoing to address any remaining concerns.”

Amid the controversy over VFS charges, Maldives was listed as the second largest source of tourists to Sri Lanka in the first 30 days of May with 7,984 tourists, overtaking British visitors at 7,844.

Sri Lanka’s tourism promotion authorities also revised up April numbers saying it was to reflect new visa categories introduced within the month, without giving details.

Related Sri Lanka revises up April tourist arrivals amid visa crisis

Sri Lanka’s tourist arrivals topped 200,000 in the first quarter growing around 100 percent.

In April, considered the start of the off-season arrivals were 148,867, but still up 41 percent from last year.

In May there were 108,665 growth has faltered to 30 percent, with numbers barely above last year in the final week.

Travel officials say the difficult website as well a minimum room rate could be contributing to faltering arrivals.

“The debut of the NH Collection Hotels & Resorts brand in Sri Lanka is an indication of the untapped potential and opportunity for tourism in Sri Lanka, particularly in the city of Colombo,” Softlogic said in a stock exchange filing.

The hotel has 219 rooms and has so far been operated by Movenpick, hotels and resorts.

Minor Hotels has three other properties in Sri Lanka – Anantara Kalutara Resort, Anantara Peace Haven Tangalle Resort and Avani Kalutara Resort.

The Softlogic hotel property, which consists of 219 rooms and suites providing an expansive view of the Indian ocean and Colombo city, will be branded as the “NH Collection Colombo Hotel”.

Minor Hotels has over 550 hotels and resorts and serves customers in 56 countries, the statement said. (Colombo/May31/2024)

“It is serious matter for the industry,” Tourist Hotels Association of Sri Lanka President M Shanthikumar said.

“The Happy Hour is not only found in Sri Lanka. It is across the world.”

The National Authority on Tobacco and Alcohol had informed a city hotel that received complaints that hotels were offering discounts on drinks during ‘Happy Hour’ promotions.

The practice was viewed as a violation of the NATA Act, the agency had decided to direct all hotels to stop giving discounts on alcohol.

Each director will be fined 50,000 rupees if hotels continued to make customers happy with discounts.

Hotels are selling legal tax paid alcohol, he said. They also pay large amounts of money for liqour licenses to the government.

Shanthikumar said representations have been made to the Sri Lanka Tourist Development Authority to help resolve the crisis.

“We have also written to the State Minister of Finance Shehan Semasinghe,” he said.

Sri Lanka has a thriving moonshine of ‘kasippu’ industry due to high taxes on legal alcohol. Tobacco is also smuggled due to high taxes. (Colombo/May31/2024)

Sri Lankans are among 36 countries added to a list of 57 countries that would get 60 day stays under the scheme, The Bangkok Post reported.

The new countries eligible for ‘Destination Thailand Visa’ include Albania, Cambodia, China, India, Jamaica, Kazakhstan, Laos, Mexico, Morocco, Panama, Romania and Uzbekistan.

Visitors who want to work and visit tourist destinations will be able to get five-year visas valid for 180 days, extendable for another 180 days, the government spokesman Chai Wacharonke was quoted in the news report.

The visa will allow foreign students of higher education to stay for one year after graduation and work, instead of having to leave the country immediately after finishing their course.

“They can find work during the extended period, especially in the fields that we need,” the spokesman said.

Visitors over 50 years who want long-stay visas currently need to have health insurance coverage worth 3 million baht. This has now been reduced to 440,000 baht (400,000 for inpatient treatment and 40,000 for outpatient cover).

The cabinet also approved the expansion of e-visa application services at Thai consulates and embassies from 47 to 94 locations, commencing in September. (Colombo/May30/2024)

“If the trend continues by the end of next year, we will be short of rooms,” Fernando told EconomyNext on the sidelines of Sancharaka Udawa, a tourism fair.

“The high-end hotels which are charging over 250-300 dollars per night has been having very high occupancy at very high rates.

“But we will have to match the product with the expectations of the people because right now it’s about 10,500 rooms which we offered for high end tourists island wide.”

Hotels chains like Cinnamon began new ventures such as eco-excursion.  

ITC, a new high end recently opened in Colombo and Cinnamon Life is expected to open later in the year.

In order to target high-spending tourists, the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau announced in January the start of a 1.5 billion rupee promotional campaign in 11 key markets including China, Russia, UK and Germany. 

Sri Lanka plans to attract 2.3 million tourists which may go up to 2.5 million under a master plan, Chairman of the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau, Chalaka Gajabahu, said at Sancharaka Udawa.

The tourist industry, however, have expressed concern over reaching the target due to summer visitors being put off by minimum room rates and a high fee and a complex website run by VFS Global, a private company after an earlier simple website was scrapped. (Colombo/May27/2024)

Officials of the Department of Immigration and Ministry of Public Security has declined to attend meeting called on May 28, de Silva said after skipping the previously scheduled meeting.

The next meeting is scheduled for May 04.

“We’ve uncovered many details & will release everything after the final meeting,” de Silva said in a twitter.com post.

“COPF is committed to exposing the truth behind the controversial GBS/IVS tender.”

#COPF meeting on #VFSfiasco postponed again due to Govt officials' unavailability on May 28th. New date: June 4th. We've uncovered many details & will release everything after the final meeting. COPF is committed to exposing the truth behind the controversial GBS/IVS tender.

— Harsha de Silva (@HarshadeSilvaMP) May 25, 2024

The VFS visa deal has led to the scrapping of an easy-to-use online visa system run by Sri Lanka’s mobile for one dollar, and its replacement by a complex VFS Global website which is charging up to 25 dollars for some visas.

Sri Lanka’s cabinet has also lost the ability to issue free visas and there have been charges that ‘free visas’ are charged 11 dollars by VFS Global.

The group’s integrated resort is being re-branded as a ‘City of Dreams’, a brand of Melco.

The resort will have a 687-room Cinnamon Life hotel and the Nuwa hotel described as “ultra-high end”.

“The 113-key exclusive hotel, situated on the top five floors of the integrated resort, will be managed by Melco under its ultra high-end luxury-standard hotel brand ‘Nuwa’, which has presence in Macau and the Philippines,” JKH told shareholders in the annual report.

“Melco’s ultra high-end luxury-standard hotel and casino, together with its global brand and footprint, will strongly complement the MICE, entertainment, shopping, dining and leisure offerings in the ‘City of Dreams Sri Lanka’ integrated resort, establishing it as a one-of-a-kind destination in South Asia and the region.”

Melco is investing 125 million dollars in fitting out its casino.

“The collaboration with Melco, including access to the technical, marketing, branding and loyalty programmes, expertise and governance structures, will be a boost for not only the integrated resort of the Group but a strong show of confidence in the tourism potential of the country,” JKH said.

The Cinnamon Life hotel has already started marketing.

Related Sri Lanka’s Cinnamon Life begins marketing, accepts bookings

(Colombo/May25/2024)

“Iranawila and Chilaw will be developed as a tourism hub,” Gunawardana on Thursday.

“A golf course is also planned for Chilaw.”

Sri Lanka already has several golf course in Colombo, Kandy and Nuwara Eliya.

Sri Lanka has five 18-hole golf courses and several 9-hole golf courses and is currently promoting itself as a destination for golf tourism.

A connecting road will also be built between Chilaw and Bingiriya where and export zone is being expanded, Minister Gunawardana said.

The task of developing the Chilaw-Iranawila tourism hub will be handed over to a task force charged with the integrated development plan for Bingiriya. (Colombo/May23/2024)

“We will be hosting a few international artists in September to December,” Gajabahu told EconomyNext.

“We would also be having a fashion show in Sigiriya.”

Sri Lanka is targeting 2.3 million tourists in the year 2024 with expectations that it may go up to 2.5 million Gajabahu said.

Sri Lanka is also planning on having a water festival in coastal towns such as Trincomalee, Arugambay  and Kalpitiya in order to showcase Sri Lanka’s capacity for watersports, Gajabahu said. (Colombo/May22/2024)

In April 2024, the contractors of the project started the handover of the building to enable Cinnamon Life to complete the final stages of furnishing, equipping and other interior works for the rooms and common areas, Chairman Krishan Balendra told shareholders in the annual report.

‘Cinnamon Life’ carried out various activities including participating in international trade fairs, conducting interviews and providing briefings to travel publications, and direct marketing initiatives for selected market segments to increase awareness on the hotel and its offerings, given the impending commencement of operations of the hotel,” Balendra said.

“[T] ‘Cinnamon Life’ hotel commenced accepting bookings for stays and banqueting functions.”

Training and hiring of staff has started.

“The implementation of training and skill development platforms continued to be a key priority during the year, given the dynamic nature associated with a project of this scale and offering,” Balendra said.

Cinnamom Life will have a range of ballrooms and banquet facilities including an exhibition centre, tat can accommodate meetings, incentives, conferences, and exhibitions (MICE) events of up to 5,000 seats

The hotel is part of JKH’s ‘City of Dreams’ integrated resort with a casino by Melco Resorts & Entertainment Limited and hotel also by its Nuwa brand. (Colombo/May22/2024)

“Several universities, including Colombo, Uva Wellasa, Kelaniya, Sabaragamuwa and Rajarata were given free stalls to facilitate student interaction with industry professionals,” Chairman of the Sancharaka Udawa Organising Committee, Charith De De Alwis said in a statement.

The event takes place today (18) at the BMICH and houses stalls for hoteliers, tour and transport services, with a goal of attracting 10,000 visitors.

Organized by the Sri Lanka Association of Inbound Tour Operators (SLAITO) and the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau (SLTPB), the 11th edition of Sancharaka Udawa offers a platform for both B2B and B2C sectors.

“Sancharaka Udawa houses over 170 exhibitors and a footfall of more than 10,000 visitors,” De Alwis said.

This year’s edition will include participants from outbound tourism sectors to facilitate capacity building. The event provides networking opportunities for industry newcomers and veterans.

“The networking platform offers opportunity for small and medium-sized service providers integrating them into the broader tourism landscape. The anticipated outcome is a substantial increase in bookings particularly for regional small-scale tourism service providers.” (Colombo/May18/2024)

The main opposition has also slammed the unsolicited deal with VFS Global, a private contractor, as being bigger than a central bank linked bondscam in 2015.

“This is three or four times bigger than the bondscam,” opposition legislator Rauff Hakeem told parliament.

“I am bringing to the attention of this house this massive fraud (visharler wanchawak).

IMF Governance Benchmarks

The deal came despite procurement requirements and anti-corruption roadmap required in an International Monetary Fund deal, following a ‘governance diagnostic assessment’.

“Having pledged all those new measures, and agreed to the IMF conditions, what does the government do?,” Hakeem asked in parliament.

VFS Global and two other firms named in a consortium, IVS-GBS were allowed to collect 18.5 dollars per tourist from a visa. Previously a double entry visa was given at 50 dollars.

VFS Global was selling a double entry visa at 100.77 dollars with actual visa being hiked to 75 dollars and two fees of 18.50 and 7.27 being charged from tourists.

It has now turned out that the visa validity period of the e-visa has been suddenly halved to three months from six, and money has been taken from unfortunate tourists without informing them of the change.

Sri Lanka Parliament’s Committee on Public Finance has also questioned the charges of VFS Global, which now has a monopoly.

The committee has called senior officials to examine the issue.

Examination of the #SriLanka visa outsourcing contract began at #COPF in @ParliamentLK today. We will meet again on the 14th to continue the discussion. As Chair of the committee this is all we wish to state to the media given the ongoing n sensitive nature of the matter.

— Harsha de Silva (@HarshadeSilvaMP) May 9, 2024

Massive Costs

Hakeem said if 2.5 million tourists came in 2024 VFS Global would earn around 18.7 billion rupees in the year. In 2024, however the target is around 2.3 million.

He did not say what exchange rate he was using to make the calculation.

In 2024 the entire Department of Immigration’s wage bill in the budget was only 992 million rupees, Hakeem said.

“The total recurrent expenditure of the Department of Immigration and Emigration is 2.57 billion rupees,” he said.

“The amount that goes to the company is 7.2 times bigger.

The total recurrent expenditure of the Department of Immigration and ICT Agency put together was 5.2 billion rupees.

“Whereas we are paying 6.2 times more to some outside company,” Hakeem asked. “How is this happening?”

“Who is pocketing this money. This is the question. This is a massive fraud that is taking place.”

Following protests by Tourism Minister Harin Fernando who reportedly threatened to resign at cabinet, a 50 dollar single entry visa was proposed.

20-pct revenue loss?

VFS Global was expected to get 10 dollars from the new 50 dollar visa, opposition legislator S M Marikkar charged, leading to a 20 percent loss in revenue to the country per visa.

“The government has thrown sand on the face of the people (mooneter weli gahala), trying to convince everyone that things are back to normal now that a 50 dollar visa is now available,” Marikkar charged in pithy Sinhalese.

“Doesn’t’ 10 dollars from that go to the company?

There was no answer from government benches.

“We will continue fight against this robbery,” Marikkar said. “We will expose more details relating to this robbery.”

VFS Global in a statement issued before the controvery over the possible 10 dollar payment said there was no ‘cost’ to the government.

“The solution is offered through a user-pay model, at no cost to the government. All investments related to technology, infrastructure and staff are borne by the company,” VGS Global said in a statement.

“The total service fee approved by the Cabinet is US$ 18.50 across all visa categories. Payment processing charges and applicable local taxes are in addition to the service fee.”

Related VFS Global issues statement on Sri Lanka visa deal

The VFS Global deal hit the Indian Ocean island just as tourism was recovering from the worst economic crisis in recent history leaving a large section of the population mal-nourished and the country is struggling to restructure foreign debt with the help of the IMF.

National Security Minister Tiran Alles, under whose ministry the Department of Immigration comes has said there was no need to call competitive tenders because no one would compete against VFS Global.

“Just think about this, because I say it,” Minister Alles told reporters in Colombo. “If we called tenders who is there to tender for this and compete against VFS?

“We went to cabinet. Committees were appointed. It was studied. Against went to cabinet. That was the correct process that was done.”

Opposition legislators meanwhile said VFS Global was charging 21.65 dollars from tourists from several countries where the cabinet of ministers have decided to give free visas to promote tourism

“Visa cost is zero. Then here is a service free of 18.50 for a free visa,” Opposition legislator Nalin Bandara told parliament.

“There is another charge for 3.11 dollars. So they are taking 21.65 dollars for a gratis visa when a tourist comes to Sri Lanka.” (Colombo/May15/2024)

Sri Lanka’s tourist arrivals went up 78 percent to 784,651 persons in the first four months of 2024.

April arrivals were up 41 percent to 148,867.

Tourism earnings in April were estimated at 225.7 million dollars, up from 148.2 million dollars a year ago.

The tourism has helped the island nation to see an inflow of 1,251.6 million dollars in the first four months of the year, 92 percent higher than the same period in 2023.

The tourism earnings figure is estimated from a survey conducted by Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority.

Sri Lanka’s imports and the merchandise trade deficit has gradually picked as tourism earnings came in and people in the sector spent the wages and other earnings. (Colombo/May 11/2024)

“Summoned the Secretary to Min of Public Security along with CG of Immigration tomorrow for balanced examination in to the ongoing visa fiasco,” COPF Chief Harsha de Silva said in a twitter.com post.

“While it is customary for all public finance related legislation be routed through COPF, this strangely was not.”

Sri Lanka used to give a double entry visa for tourists for 50 dollars (30 dollars for South Asia) and a one dollar charge, through its ETA portal, which was quickly filled.

However, after the shift to the VFS Global website, the price went up to 100.77 dollars with a 18.50 service charge and a 7.27 dollar ‘convenience fee’.

Tourists are expressed their shock at the price hike saying family groups had to pay 500 dollars or more to come.

Kids below 12 years were given fee visas, which were no longer available.

The old double entry visa also had a six month validity period.

After the shift to VFS Global the validity period has also been halved to 3 months.

Some tourists have complained that they were sold six months visa by VFS Global portal but told that it would expire in 3 months and they had to change their travel plans.

Tourist industry officials said tourists who bought visas under the old system were told to pay against and get new visas.

“We called the VFS office in India but they did not help,” a travel official who was trying to help a group said.

Many tourists were struggling with the VFS Global websites and also struggling to upload a picture at the correct size.

Others opted to try and get a visa on arrival at the airport instead of wading through the VFS Global website.

At this week’s cabinet meeting Tourism Minister Harin Fernando reportedly threatened to resign and a 50 dollar single entry visa was introduced.

Opposition legislators are questioning whether 10 dollars out of 50 was now going to VFS Global.

Sri Lanka’s Public Security Minister had admitted that there was no competitive tender and the IVS-GBS had proposed the deal to the government. (Colombo/May08/2024)

Sri Lanka was widely acknowledged on travel forums to have the best or one of the best e-visas in the world due to a user-friendly website which did not ask for unnecessary details, and charged only 50 dollars for double entry and gave six months validity for first entry.

A British tourist applied though the new VFS Global portal said she sold two visas by VFS Global for 170 sterling pounds (about 200 dollars), based on their arrival dates.

“I put our arrival dates as 23rd September 2024 and departure of 4th October,” the tourist, Jodie wrote on Tripadvisor.com

“The approval notice stated we must travel to Sri Lanka by the 3rd August 24 or the visa then expires. Which is something we cannot do.”

Until the VFS Global deal, tourists could plan their trips to Sri Lanka several months ahead, and make the first arrival within six months of the visa issue.

Most countries have shorter first visit period, which was a reason tourist did not mind paying the 50 dollar fee. The double entry also allowed them to travel to Maldives and come back.

VFS portal had not helped her, after selling the visa, and had referred her to the Department of Immigration, she said.

“I have contacted them via phone and email and they have said to contact the Immigration & Emmigration Sri Lanka but they would not give me their details,” the unfortunate tourist wrote.

“I have emailed that department and had no response. The visas have cost me £170 for two and I cannot simply afford to pay another £170. I really need to know how to get these dates changed,” she pleaded, sounding more helpless than angry.

Sympathetic comments from fellow posters showed that Sri Lanka image was getting a hammering.

“Looking at the dates from beginning of May it appears that this new company running the immigration system has reduced the grace period for use from 6 to 3 months,” commented another forum member, Graham.

He warned that the old website had also warned not to make any mistakes or money will not be refunded.

“I do not think you will have any luck getting a refund or making changes,” he said pessimistically.

“This whole horrible mess is typical of Sri Lanka. Good luck and please keep us updated with any progress you make.”

Others blasted VFS Global for a badly programmed website.

“Was the validity or some similar terms used on the website?,” wrote Simon, another Brit.

“Nonetheless, it’s awful programming on the website as there should be date validation in the entry date field to check it’s within the time limit (3 months).

“If there was a warning you have little chance of a change, but you could protest that the application should have failed.”

Public Security Minister Tiran Alles said a 12-year monopoly was awarded to the company without competitive tender following a proposal made to the Sri Lanka.

Related Sri Lanka to lose 20-pct from $50 tourist visa to VFS Global: legislator

Sri Lanka has since started offering 50 dollar visa but only for single entry, with opposition members questioning whether VFS Global was getting a 20 percent of the price, resulting in a 20 percent revenue loss to government.

Related Sri Lanka ‘free’ visa costs US$21.61 under VFS Global deal: legislator

In another twist legislators have revealed that VFS Global was collecting 21.61 US dollars from tourists from several countries who are supposed to get free visas under a promotion.

(Colombo/May08/2024)

Sri Lanka jacked up the price of a standard visa, which was double entry, to 75 dollars from 50 dollars with the advent of the VFS deal, and the firm’s own charges pushed up the cost to 100.77 dollars shocking tourists.

Following intervention by Tourism Minister Harin Fernando, a new single-entry visa was promised for 50 collars.

But an opposition legislator alleged that Sri Lanka would lose 10 dollars out of 50 dollars to VFS Global group and the contract was still in place.

“The government has thrown sand on the face of the people (mooneter weli gahala), trying to convince everyone that things are back to normal now that a 50 dollar visa is now available,” Marikkar charged in pithy Sinhalese.

“Doesn’t’ 10 dollars from that go to the company? Someone should make that clear.

There was no answer from government benches.

“We will continue fight against this robbery,” Marikkar said. “We will expose more details relating to this robbery.”

Under the original deal IVS-GBS-VFS Global, the private contractor stood to make 841 dollars over a 10-year contract period, he said

Discussions on travel forums like Tripadvisor.com showed that tourists who were finding it difficult to fill out the forms in the VFS Global website were opting to get a visa on arrival at the airport. Older tourists were having a specially hard time.

Sri Lanka earlier had a website which was widely acclaimed by tourists and travel portals like Lonely Planet and Tripadvisor as perhaps the best or one of the most user friendly e-visa site in the world.

(Colombo/May08/2024)

“Visa cost is zero. Then here is a service free of 18.50 for a free visa,” Bandara told parliament Wednesday. “There is another charge for 3.11 dollars.

“So they are taking 21.65 dollars for a gratis visa when a tourist comes to Sri Lanka. When we go to Singapore we get a free visa. So nothing is charged from us. Not a single dollar is charged as a service fee.”

Bandara claimed companies have been incorporated in the UAE to do the deal with Sri Lanka.

He queried whether the money went to account in Dubai.

Bandara questioned why the deal was given to VFS Global when Mobitel had offered to do the system for 1 dollar.

“A massive game is being played,” Bandara said. “This government has a life of 4 months. Are they going to collect money in their death?”

A double entry visa that used to cost 50 dollars in Sri Lanka which was issued through user-friendly website, initially went up to 100.77 dollars after the VFS Global deal.

According to a report compiled by an additional secretary VFS Global was projected to earn 841 dollars from the deal in the next 10 year, Bandara said.

RELATED Sri Lanka VFS Global 12-year visa deal worth $840mn: legislator

This week after tourism minister Harin Fernando reportedly threatened to resign, a single entry visa was promised for 50 dollars.

But complex VFS Global website remains in place. (Colombo/May08/2024)

The firm was charging 18.5 dollars per visa and a 5 to 7 dollar ‘convenience fee’ on top of the government visa fee from tourists trying to enter Sri Lanka.

Marikkar said the VFS Global was placed to earn cashflows of up to 100 million dollars a year based on tourist promotion targets of the industry, over the contract period.

The firm would earn 35 million dollars in 2024, 43 million dollars in 2025, 49 million dollars, 56 million dollars in 2026, 62 in 2028, 68 in 2029, 74 in 2030, Marikkar said reading out from a document.

The group would earn 80 million dollars in 2031, 86 million in 2032, 92 million in 2033, 96 million in 2034 and 100 million in 2035 million.

VFS Global group stood to earn 840 million dollars over the period of the contract which was renewable every two years, Marikkar claimed.

The deal was awarded without a competitive procurement process, Marikkar told parliament Tuesday.

Public Security Minister Tiran Alles said the deal was done after a proposal was made by the company. Even if its was tendered, there would be no one to compete against it, he told reporters.

The VFS Global website had come under fire for not be user friendly and not as easy to use as the previous website operated by the Department of Government information.

The website gave a double entry visa for 50 dollars and the new one from the VFS Global site costs 100.7 dollars.

A government statement said Monday that a 50 dollar single entry visa would be issued soon.

Marikkar questioned whether VFS Global would get 10 dollars from the single entry visa.
(Colombo/May07/2024)

Sri Lanka was previously issuing a double entry visa for 50 dollars allowing tourists to visit neighboring countries and return in line with the island’s logistic hub status, and also to ‘come back for more’.

“Amidst the notable progress in the country’s tourism sector, numerous stakeholders within the industry have recently urged President Ranil Wickremesinghe to maintain the maximum visa fee for foreigners at US $50,” the statement said.

“They have also highlighted that this decision stands as significant support for the future growth of the tourism industry.

“Consequently, President Ranil Wickremesinghe reached this decision after presenting the matter during today’s Cabinet meeting.”

Tourism Minister Harin Fernando said in an x.com post that he had opposed the fees charged by VFS Global and the fees were not previously disclosed to cabinet.

Related

Sri Lanka tourism minister opposes VFS Global linked visa fees in cabinet

It is not clear whether tourists will still have to use the IVS-GBS-VFS Global website to get visas or whether the user-friendly government website will be available again.

Bad User Experience

The travel industry as well as tourists have said it is complex and cannot be used easily unlike the earlier ETV website of the Department of Immigration.

Travel forum discussions showed that some tourists were opting to get a visa on-arrival physically at the airport after being frustrated by the strict data and other requirements of the VFS Global website.

They were also being given confusing messages by the new portal’s chat facility about the availability of on-arrival visas, members of tripadvisor.com claimed.

The portal is only in English at the moment.

However VFS said it is statement that it was working to make other languages also available.

A free visa for India, China, Russia, Japan, Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia will be made available, the government statement said.

However as of yesterday tourists had to pay 25.77 dollars for a ‘free’ visa due to fees charged by the IVS-GBS-VFS group, as the cabinet of ministers of Sri Lanka seemingly had lost the powers to issue free visas.

Opposition legislator Harsha de Silva queried an apparent 200 million dollar investment claim made by the private contractor to justify an 18.5 dollar additional fee from tourists.

Can this be real?” de Silva asked in an x.com message publishing what was believed to be a cabinet memo.

” IVS-GBS Global to invest USD 200 million (tech for website and cameras?) as per Cabinet Memo justifying outsourcing at USD 18.50+/visa. “Where did this investment go?

Related Harsha queries Sri Lanka $200mn IVS-VFS Global investment claimed to justify high fees

Another convenience fee of 5 to 7 dollars was also charged from customers.

VFS Global also released a statement explaining their stance.

RelatedVFS Global issues statement on Sri Lanka visa deal

The contract for 12 years was given without tendering, Public Security Minister Tiran Alles who is in charge of Sri Lanka’s Department of Immigration.

“If we called tenders, who is there to tender for this and compete against VFS?” Minister Alles asked reporters Monday.

“This is a proposal. There is a method of studying proposals. Many things (orner-tharam-deval) are done that way”.

Related

No tender needed for Sri Lanka visa deal, nobody can compete against VFS: Minister

(Colombo/May07/2024)

“Can this be real?” de Silva asked in an x.com message publishing what was believed to be a cabinet memo.

” IVS-GBS Global to invest USD 200 million (tech for website and cameras?) as per Cabinet Memo justifying outsource at USD 18.50+/visa. “Where did this investment go?

He also questioned whether VFS Global was added later to the consortium.

According to media reports SLT-Mobitel was willing to run a system at 1 dollar per visa.

Sri Lanka’s Immigration Department had a user-friendly website which had drawn praise from tourists and travel website.

As part of the shift, visa fees were pushed up from 50 to 100 dollars.

Sri Lanka’s cabinet has now approved a 50 dollar single entry visa after protests from the industry, according to statement issued late Monday.

(Colombo/May07/2024)