Muscat – Sri Lanka has announced visa-free entry for citizens of 35 countries, including Oman, with effect from October 1, 2024.

The Omani Embassy in Sri Lanka confirmed the announcement, stating that the visa-free access will initially be available for six months and reviewed thereafter.

The new travel policy follows a Sri Lankan Supreme Court interim order on August 2, which suspended the e-visa portal operated by IVS-GBS and VFS Global.

In addition to Oman, the visa-free list includes India, the UK, the US, China, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, Australia, Denmark, Poland, Kazakhstan, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, Nepal, Indonesia, Russia and Thailand. Other nations on the list are Malaysia, Japan, France, Canada, the Czech Republic, Italy, Switzerland, Austria, Israel, Belarus, Iran, Sweden, South Korea and New Zealand.

The move is seen as a significant effort to boost Sri Lanka’s tourism sector, which has faced challenges in recent years, particularly after 2019.

Sri Lanka’s tourism industry showed signs of recovery in the first half of 2024, earning US$1.5bn, up from US$875mn during the same period last year, according to the country’s central bank.