Rupee, UPI to ease Lanka visit

Seema Sachdeva

India’s unique relationship with Sri Lanka — encapsulating mythology, religion and ethnic affinity — is now being taken a step further. It’s advantage Indian tourists as the island nation tries to emerge out of a prolonged economic crisis. A range of attractive tour packages are on offer, but what will come as real good news is that the Indian rupee could soon be accepted in Sri Lanka. The announcement was made by Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Ali Sabry at a press conference after President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s recent visit to India.

“The balance of trade is tilted towards India, which makes a case for Sri Lanka to receive payment in INR from Indian tourists. Work on payments using the Indian rupee on UPI (Unified Payments Interface) is likely to take about three months,” Sabry said. After air and maritime connectivity, the next step will be to allow vehicles to be brought across the ports, he revealed, adding that Sri Lanka would explore this ‘bridge’ on similar lines as Singapore and Malaysia.

“The move to make the Indian rupee and UPI open for transactions in Sri Lanka will bring about ease of travel as one will not lose money in multiple exchanges and conversions,” says Jyoti Mayal, president of the Travel Agents Association of India. “We are working out the modalities. There needs to be clarity on how much currency a person can carry. Many shopkeepers in Sri Lanka have started accepting smaller denominations of Indian currency but are scared of taking bigger amounts. It is essential to create awareness regarding acceptance of the Indian currency at local shops and outlets. Also, fares in INR need to be placed at travel websites as well as duty free shops so that we are not just looking at the Sri Lankan rupee. We have written to the MEA, Finance Ministry as well as to the Indian High Commission in Sri Lanka,” she adds.

Foreign Secretary Vinay Mohan Kwatra recently mentioned that India is currently the largest source of inbound tourism into Sri Lanka. There has been a surge of 35-40 per cent in demand for Ramayana tours compared to last year, says Rajeev Kale, president and country head (Holidays, MICE, Visa), Thomas Cook (India), adding that besides metro cities, Tier 2 and 3 source markets like Madurai and Pune are driving this demand. “Historically, India’s seniors/Gen S comprised a key segment for the Ramayana trails, but we have seen an uptick in demand from millennials and professionals. We have also managed corporate, MICE groups to Sri Lanka,” says Kale.

Daniel D’souza, president and country head (Holidays), SOTC Travel, says over the past year, there has been a 20-25 per cent growth in demand for the Ramayana trails. “Beside spiritual tourism, we are also witnessing high interest for leisure, wellness and culinary travel from across customer segments of multigenerational families, couples, DINKs, honeymooners, Gen Z and solo travellers,” he adds.

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