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Thursday, December 5, 2024

How the Sri Lanka’s VFS Global Visa Deal Hurt Sri Lanka’s Thriving Tourism Industry

Image: Argam Bay, Sri Lanka (c)sunanda deshapriya

⭕️ In November 2023, after much hard work by tourism stakeholders, the ministry, and extensive promotional efforts, Sri Lanka 🇱🇰 finally surpassed the 2015 tourism numbers for the first time in years.

Image
(notice purple line(2023) go above blue line(2015))

🔼 Jan 2024: Tourism arrivals exceeded both 2015 and 2016 figures. (redline 2024)

⏫ Feb 2024: Arrivals surpassed 2015, 2016, and 2017 numbers.

⏫ Mar 2024: The trend continued, with projections indicating potential 2018 arrival levels by year-end.

⭕️ Mid-Apr 2024: Sri Lanka signed the controversial VFS Global Visa deal.

🔽 End-Apr 2024: Arrival numbers fell below 2017 levels.

⏬ May 2024: Arrivals dropped below 2016 and 2015 levels.

⏬ Jun 2024: Numbers continue to remain under 2015 levels.

Numbers.lk @numberslka

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