该国外交部长阿里·萨布里宣布的。。
斯里兰卡降低许多旅行者的签证要求
斯里兰卡立即对持有 38 个国家护照的旅行者实行免签证入境。这是该国外交部长阿里·萨布里宣布的。

有趣的是，斯里兰卡最初打算从 2024 年 10 月 1 日起对 35 个国家的国民实行免签证入境。这原本是一个为期六个月的试验，符合条件的国家包括澳大利亚、奥地利、巴林、白俄罗斯、比利时、加拿大、中国、捷克共和国、丹麦、法国、德国、印度、印度尼西亚、伊朗、以色列、意大利、日本、哈萨克斯坦、马来西亚、尼泊尔、荷兰、新西兰、阿曼、波兰、卡塔尔、俄罗斯、沙特阿拉伯、西班牙、瑞典、瑞士、泰国、阿拉伯联合酋长国、英国和美国。

然而，该国现在已经立即实施了这项政策，尽管方式相当混乱。政府网站尚未更新以反映这一点，而且目前还不清楚除了最初计划的 35 个国家之外，还有哪三个国家可以免签入境。

那么，为什么斯里兰卡决定在计划的 10 月 1 日之前突然取消对许多国家国民的签证要求？

从历史上看，斯里兰卡允许旅行者提前获得电子签证，或在抵达时获得签证。 然而，在过去几周里，由于管理电子签证系统的第三方出现问题，该国的电子签证系统已被暂停。 结果，所有旅行者都需要在抵达时获得签证，导致排长队。

为了缓解入境时的拥堵，斯里兰卡决定完全暂停对来自数十个国家的游客的签证要求。

斯里兰卡正在放宽对旅行者的要求
斯里兰卡需要永久实施免签证旅行
斯里兰卡是一个美丽的国家，人民友好，食物美味，还可以满足不同类型的旅行者（包括那些寻找廉价机票的旅行者）。😉 话虽如此，不可否认的是，多年来，该国在旅游业方面一直举步维艰。

首先，斯里兰卡经常发生导致旅游业崩溃的事件。例如，该国在 2019 年遭受了大规模恐怖袭击，造成 150 多人死亡。但即使回到我十几岁的时候，我也记得大多数航空公司都暂停了飞往科伦坡的航班，因为当时发生了内乱，包括有人威胁要袭击机场。

此外，现实情况是，争夺旅游收入的竞争非常激烈。当然，斯里兰卡可能会吸引一些想要廉价假期的注重价值的旅行者，但在大多数情况下，它并不完全被称为最高端的旅游目的地。该地区有许多国家是许多旅行者首先考虑的，从马尔代夫到泰国。

我强烈认为斯里兰卡需要尽其所能吸引尽可能多的游客，这应该包括消除旅行障碍。早在 2019 年，斯里兰卡就在测试为期六个月的免签旅行概念，所以我不知道再次试验的意义何在。

自 2019 年（袭击发生，随后是疫情）以来，斯里兰卡旅游业一直陷入低迷，因此永久取消符合条件的旅行者的签证应该是明智之举。

斯里兰卡是一个美丽的国家
底线
斯里兰卡立即取消了对来自 38 个国家的旅行者的签证要求。虽然该国计划在 10 月进行试验，但由于该国的电子签证系统存在问题，最终提前推出。放宽签证要求是永久性变化还是只是一次试验，还有待观察。无论如何，如果你问我，这都是个好消息。

你如何看待斯里兰卡推出免签证旅行？
https://onemileatatime.com/news/sri-lanka-visa-free-entry/
Sri Lanka cuts visa requirements for many travelers
Effective immediately, Sri Lanka has introduced visa-free entry for travelers with passports from 38 different countries. This was announced by Ali Sabry, the country’s Minister of Foreign Affairs.


What’s interesting here is that initially Sri Lanka was going to introduce visa-free entry for nationals of 35 countries as of October 1, 2024. This was intended to be a six month trial, and eligible nations for this were supposed to include Australia, Austria, Bahrain, Belarus, Belgium, Canada, China, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Iran, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Oman, Poland, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, and United States.

However, the country has now introduced this policy effective immediately, though in a rather chaotic way. The government website hasn’t been updated to reflect this, and it’s not clear what the additional three countries are that have visa-free entry, beyond the 35 that were on the initial planned list.

So, why has Sri Lanka decided to suddenly end visa requirements for nationals of many countries, ahead of the planned October 1 timeline?

Historically Sri Lanka has allowed travelers to either get an e-visa in advance, or to get a visa on arrival. However, for the past several weeks, the country’s e-visa system has been suspended, due to issues with the third party that manages the e-visa system. As a result, all travelers have needed to get a visa on arrival, leading to long queues.


In order to alleviate the congestion at immigration on arrival, Sri Lanka has decided to just suspend visa requirements altogether for visitors from dozens of nations.


Sri Lanka is easing requirements for travelers
Sri Lanka needs to make visa-free travel permanent
Sri Lanka is a beautiful country with friendly people, tasty food, and it can also cater to different kinds of travelers (including those looking for cheap fares). 😉 That being said, there’s no denying that the country has struggled with tourism over the years.

For one, Sri Lanka has had frequent events that have caused tourism to collapse. For example, the country faced a massive terrorist attack back in 2019, which killed over 150 people. But even going back to when I was a teenager, I remember most airlines suspending flights to Colombo, given the civil unrest, including threats of attacks on the airport.

Furthermore, the reality is that there’s just a ton of competition for tourist dollars. Sure, Sri Lanka might attract some value conscious travelers who want a cheap vacation, but for the most part, it’s not exactly known as the highest end tourist destination. There are all kinds of countries in the general region that many travelers may consider first, ranging from the Maldives, to Thailand.

I feel strongly that Sri Lanka needs to do whatever it can to attract as many tourists as possible, and that should include eliminating barriers to travel. Even back in 2019, Sri Lanka was testing the concept of visa-free travel for a period of six months, so I don’t know what the point is of another trial.

Sri Lanka tourism has cratered since 2019 (when the attacks happened, followed by the pandemic), so permanently eliminating visas for eligible travelers should be a no-brainer.


Sri Lanka is a beautiful country
Bottom line
Effective immediately, Sri Lanka has eliminated visa requirements for travelers from 38 countries. While the country was planning a trial as of October, this was ultimately rolled out earlier, due to issues with the country’s e-visa system. It remains to be seen if the easing of visa requirements is a permanent change, or just a trial. Regardless, it’s good news, if you ask me.

What do you make of Sri Lanka introducing visa-free travel?