Sri Lanka is ready to receive foreign tourists from January 2021. But all travelers will have to be in quarantine for 14 days. The Sri Lankan government has also proposed to issue six-month visas for tourists instead of the current one-month visas when the country re-opens its international airports for travelers next year. A proposed travel bubble to reopen Sri Lanka for foreign tourists has received the green-light from President Gotabaya Rajapaksa. However, actual date for allowing international tourists is yet to be fixed.
Sri Lankan authorities are currently considering introducing new rules in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, Tourism Minister Prasanna Ranatunga said. A new set of guidelines had been prepared by the COVID-19 Clinical Management Expert Committee of the Ministry of Health and Sri Lanka Tourism.
According to these guidelines, a minimum stay of 14 days in Sri Lanka will be made mandatory while the online visa process was mandatory for all international tourists via the online visa application system – Electronic Travel Authorization (ETA). Ranatunga also clarified that tourists applying for an online visa must indicate the travel route and address of residence for the duration of the quarantine period.
According to the guidelines, only visitors with pre-booked and pre-paid booking for a Level 1 hotel for the first seven days and thereafter the next seven days in a Level 1 or 2 hotel certified as safe and secure accommodation will be granted visas.
Vacationers who have passed quarantine will be able to visit some of the attractions with a registered guide. As for foreign nationals whose stay exceeds 28 days, they will be allowed to book any type of accommodation. According to the draft proposal placed before government, at least one hotel will be turned into a quarantine centre in each city open for tourists to be prepared to face any eventuality.
It is mandatory that all international visitors have evidence of a negative PCR test 72 hours before arrival. In addition to the visa fee, the cost for three PCR and or antigen tests will be levied from each traveler. The antigen and or PCR test will be conducted on arrival and there will be another test five to seven days after arrival, which is mandatory.
If deemed necessary by health officials, an additional test is to be conducted 10 to 14 days after arrival. It would be mandatory for all passengers who are arriving as tourists to have medical insurance from an insurer based in Sri Lanka before arrival.
Further, all travelers need to carry an adequate number of face masks with them and wear a face mask.
Sri Lanka had closed all its international airports in March following the detection of the first local COVID-19 patient. After reopening, the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) will be reopened in a phased-out manner, with no more than 300 arrivals per day in total as the first phase, while Mattala International Airport (MRIA) will be exclusively used for repatriation flights with first preference being given to the repatriation of citizens back to Sri Lanka.
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