Sri Lanka Targets 1.5 Million Tourists in 2021 – Country Offers Quarantine-Free Stays

With the opening of Sri Lanka’s borders to international tourists, the country is looking at achieving 1.5 million arrivals this year; this is according to an online article published in January 2021 by the Daily FT, highlighting the government’s response before the opening of the island’s international airports. The airports began to welcome foreign travellers from 21st January 2021 and since then, there have been many arrivals from destinations such as Germany, Russia, the Middle East and Ukraine.

A key feature of restarting tourism here is that travellers do not have to quarantine on arrival and are kept within a secure “bio bubble” for the first two weeks, while also undergoing COVID-19 testing. They have a choice to stay and move freely at government-approved Level 1 “Safe and Secure” hotels and bungalows in Sri Lanka including properties belonging to hospitality chains like Theme Resorts & Spas. Within this bio bubble, they are permitted to also visit several key attractions though at specific times.