THASL and SLAITO hail restoration of ETA platform

President  Anura Kumara Dissanayake	THASL Chairman  M. Shanthikumar	SLIATO President  Nishad Wijetunge

• Extend appreciation for swift action following representations made to new President
• Kudos to Supreme Court as well
• Express confidence new move will create positive outcome and surge in tourist arrivals

The Hotels Association of Sri Lanka (THASL) and Sri Lanka Association of Inbound Tour Operators (SLAITO) yesterday hailed the restoration of the Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) platform by the Government thereby easing convenience for tourists.

The ETA platform 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 was introduced in April 2024 following the outsourcing of visa processing system by the previous Government.

“This change had a huge negative impact on tourist arrivals to the country, to date,” THASL and SLAITO said yesterday in a joint statement.

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 2 August 2024, to reinstate the ETA system that was operational, prior to 17 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.,” the statement added.

“We are delighted that 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,” THASL and SALITO said.

“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. 

On behalf of the tourism Industry, we are indeed very thankful, to His Excellency the President, (to whom we wrote on this matter, earlier this week) and the minister for public security for ensuring that the supreme court order, was carried out without any delay, no sooner they assumed office,” they added. 

THASL and SLAITO stressed that tourism is the number 1 net foreign exchange earner to the country and over 10% of the country’s population is dependent on this industry.