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In a joint communiqué, the country’s two largest travel associations, the Sri Lanka Association of Inbound Tour Operators (SLAITO) and Tourist Hotels Association (THASL) thanked President Anura Kumara Dissanayake and the Minister for Public Security Vijitha Herath for taking quick steps towards the re-introduction of the online Electronic Platform (ETA) platform.
“On behalf of the tourism Industry, we are indeed very thankful, to the President, (to whom we wrote on this matter, earlier this week) for ensuring that the Supreme Court order, was carried out without any delay, no sooner they assumed office,” the two Associations stated.
“Tourism is the No. 1 net foreign exchange earner to the country and over 10% of the country’s population is dependent on this industry and this move would help the industry to achieve its targets.”
The two associations recalled that the ETA which was in operation since 2012 and was hailed as being one of the most efficient and effective in the region, and helped tourism growth, was abruptly stopped and a new system with VFS, introduced in April 2024.
This change had a huge negative impact on tourist arrivals to the country, to date.
With appeals going unheard for over two months, key industry associations and individuals filed Fundamental Rights petitions in the Supreme Court in late July 2024.
“We thank the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka for their directive of August 2, 2024, to reinstate the ETA system that was operational, prior to 17th April 2024.”
“However, there was an undue delay in the Supreme Court order being carried out, which created a lot of confusion and revenue loss to the country, as a result of the severe decline in tourist arrivals that followed, due to the lack of an online platform to obtain an ETA.”
“We are delighted, that today, the previous ETA system was reinstated by the Department of Immigration and Emigration, which will enable tourists to obtain an ETA to visit the Island, with ease.”
“We are confident this will create a positive outcome and we can expect a surge in tourist arrivals in the coming months.”
“We appreciate the efforts of the COPF for exposing this issue back in May/June and to some of its members, for going to the Supreme Court resulting in the issuance of the interim order, nearly two months ago.”
Meanwhile many travel veterans said that even the then powerful Minister of Tourism Harin Fernando said that though he was against taking off ETA he was helpless.
They also said that they made several requests to the then immigration chief with no avail. “We were very disappointed with the stubborn attitude by some of the then government officials towards reimplementing the ETA.”
Tourists will now be able to apply for a visa online without paying the $25 charged by India-based VFS Global, which won an outsourcing contract in April from the previous Government.
Rights activists had alleged in court that the contract was not awarded transparently and said the consortium stood to earn up to $2.75 billion over a 16-year period.
A probe would be launched by the new Government in this regard.
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