Online visa fee slashed

Monday, 14 November 2011 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

By Cheranka Mendis

The tourism industry yesterday welcomed the reduction in the online visa processing fee from the initial US$ 50 flat rate for every country, giving into the concerns and objections of industry stakeholders.

The scheme, scheduled to be in effect from January 2012, will now charge US$ 10 from travellers from South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) countries and US$ 20 from non-SAARC countries.

Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau Managing Director Rumy Jauffer told the Daily FT that the changes were a result of a policy decision by the Government.

He added that according to the revised structure, children under 12 years of age and transit passengers stopping over for 48 hours in Sri Lanka would not be charged a visa processing fee.

However, the online visa website www.eta.gov.lk had not changed the fee structure by last evening.

“This is a trial arrangement,” Jauffer said, commenting on the website. “We have received no issues or problems about the website so far and it is working perfectly. The thing with IT is that we need to keep updating the system. Come January, the website will be a high tech product.” He stated that Sri Lanka Tourism had kept a keen eye on the operation of the website and would closely monitor its progress once the process officially commences in 2012. Commenting on the revised fee structure, Tourist Hotels Association President Anura Lokuhetty stated that the move was encouraging news for the industry.

“The initial US$ 50 flat out rate would have had a definite impact on arrivals to the country. Given the target of 2.5 million arrivals by 2016, the US$ 50 fee would have surely slowed down the numbers,” Lokuhetty said.

“I still think it is not the correct amount,” he noted, “We are not the only ones in the industry. We must always keep in mind that we are up against the likes of Thailand and Malaysia and that to compete with them we must offer an attractive, cost effective product.”

The industry has been given a run-through of the operation of the website, Lokuhetty added, saying that so far everything seemed good. “It looks customer friendly and we are quite happy about it.”