The tourism sector takes to the streets against bureaucracy

The introduction of a complex new visa system is forcing tourists to wait two and a half hours on arrival at Colombo airport to enter the country. With a petition to the Supreme Court and a strike looming, operators are calling for the old online system to be reinstated, saying excessive bureaucracy risks jeopardising the post-pandemic season and economic recovery.

Colombo () – The cumbersome new visa system, which has caused confusion among tourists, has led the Sri Lankan tourism industry to file a lawsuit in the Supreme Court seeking compensation. This week, it will take to the streets to strongly oppose the excessive bureaucracy: currently, tourists are forced to spend about two and a half hours upon arrival at Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA). There is no online platform to obtain an entry visa into the country, which causes chaos and traffic jams. According to the president of the Sri Lanka Inbound Tour Operators Association (Slaito), Nishad Wijetunga, arrivals expected so far have decreased, despite the optimistic forecasts of the Sri Lanka Tourism Authority (Sltda).

Slaito Chairman Nishad Wijetunga revealed during a press conference in Colombo last week: “We vehemently resisted the ironclad bureaucratic wall maintained by Sri Lanka’s all-powerful immigration controller Harsha Ilukpitiya” against the directives of senior government officials. With the authorities failing to help in resolving the confusion, the tourism industry decided to take matters into its own hands. A Fundamental Rights Petition (Case No. SCFR 218/2024) was filed by the Sri Lanka Inbound Tour Operators Association (Slaito), the Sri Lanka Hotels Association (Thasl), the Small and Medium Tourism Enterprises Association, the Sri Lanka Association of Professional Conference and Exhibition Organisers, the Ceylon Hotel School Graduates Association and the Tourism Alliance, together with the Sri Lanka Travel Agents Association, challenging the new tourist visa procedure, introduced without prior notice in April 2024.

An interim order was issued to the Controller of Immigration to temporarily suspend the new VFS Global system and revert to the old system. But citing technical and logistical issues, it is yet to implement the previous Mobitel online visa system. Jetwing Chairman and veteran hotelier Hiran Cooray said, “We cannot allow one person to block the entire winter season. The impact of this issue is bringing an industry that was expecting ‘good winter arrivals’ to its knees and the country is losing its tourists and is unable to meet the targets it had previously planned and achieved.

Several key figures in the sector have expressed their opinion to , strongly opposing the “iron wall of bureaucracy”. Mayantha Dabare, Navin Sedara, Dunesh Tennakoon and Nalinda Gamage revealed: “In 2019, we were stranded due to the Easter Sunday attacks, then COVID-19, followed by an economic crisis with several hours of power cuts, long queues for cooking gas and fuel. Then, little by little, tourists began to arrive, bringing much-needed foreign currency, but it was not enough. “The winter season is currently underway, but tourist arrivals are declining, despite the announcement of free visas for 38 countries,” they add. Tourists have to spend hours and hours at the BIA, in vain. The visa crisis is due to the implementation of the VFS Global system, which was granted the right to issue visas on its online platforms. “The visa issuing process has created confusion among tourists and tour operators,” they confirm.

Several countries with a large influx of tourists, such as France, the United Kingdom and Australia, have expressed their concerns. “Therefore, the sector is concerned that if the issue is addressed by the travel councils of these respective countries, it could have a significant impact on arrivals,” they continue. Despite numerous discussions with the authorities on the impact of this cumbersome visa processing system, no remedy has been found to date. For this reason, we have decided to take to the streets to express our opinion,” they say. The tourism sector has therefore expressed its concern to the Supreme Court because “the previous online visa system, as indicated by the Court, has not been implemented.”