¡¡¡¡COLOMBO, January 23 (Xinhuanet) -- Sri Lanka will issue visas on arrival for tourists from countries of South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation(SAARC) from Wednesday under a new tourism program launched by the government, the official Daily News said.

¡¡¡¡Tourism Minister Gamini Lokuge said Tuesday that tourists from India, Nepal, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan and the Maldives will no longer have to obtain prior visas under the new arrangement which will entitle them to obtain a visa for one month on arrival.

¡¡¡¡However, if tourists require for a longer period of time applications must be made to the Department of Immigration and Emigration.

¡¡¡¡This is the first time that the landing endorsement procedure has been extended to countries of the SAARC region although 72 countries in Europe, Americas and Asia already enjoy this facility.

¡¡¡¡In its bid to promote tourism in the war-torn country the government has allocated a sum of 440 million rupees(around 4.73 million U.S. dollars) to revamp and sustain the industry through its current impasse and meet the target of 400,000 tourist arrivals for this year. Enditem

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