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By Charumini\u00a0de Silva<\/strong><\/p>\n
\u00a0Paytm CEO for Travel and COO for Consumer Payments Vikash Jalan\u00a0\u2013 Pic by Ruwan Walpola<\/strong><\/p>\n
Paytm CEO for Travel and COO for Consumer Payments Vikash Jalan on Wednesday urged Sri Lanka to position itself as the \u201cmost frictionless, trusted, and convenient overseas destination\u201d for Indian travellers, insisting that digital payments and fintech infrastructure will be just as critical as flights, hotels, and marketing in shaping the country\u2019s next phase of tourism growth.<\/p>\n
Speaking at the India-Sri Lanka Tourism Connect forum on the theme \u201cRole of Fintech in Tourism Experiences,\u201d Jalan said modern tourism is increasingly defined by action and ease, not advertising, and that seamless payment experiences are now fundamental to destination choice, visitor satisfaction, and spending levels.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cA traveller shouldn\u2019t have to worry about currency, conversion, or acceptance. When payments disappear into the background, destinations become instantly more attractive,\u201d he pointed out.<\/p>\n He explained that payments are often invisible when they work smoothly, but \u201cpainfully visible\u201d when they don\u2019t; affecting not only the individual tourist, but also a destination\u2019s revenue, reputation, and repeat visitation.\u00a0<\/p>\n A frictionless payment layer, he said, creates a self-reinforcing cycle; destination choices expand, travellers increase, revenues rise, and experience quality improves, helping that destination win in a highly competitive regional market.<\/p>\n Jalan stressed that India\u2019s payments ecosystem is now among the most advanced in the world, driven by Unified Payments Interface (UPI), which processed 85 billion transactions last year, accounting for over 83% of all non-cash retail payments.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIndia has gone from \u2018cash-first to mobile-first in less than a decade\u2019 and Sri Lanka\u2019s rapid progress in digital payments places it on a parallel track,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n He said over 67% of Sri Lanka\u2019s merchant transactions now run through digital channels, and with UPI acceptance enabled in Sri Lanka in 2024, Indian travellers can simply \u2018scan and pay\u2019 as they would at home.<\/p>\n \u201cThis changes everything,\u201d Jalan said, pointing to the sharp rise in Indian arrivals.\u00a0<\/p>\n He noted that Sri Lanka saw 430,000 Indian visitors in 2024, up from 300,000 the previous year, and has already welcomed over 450,000 Indians in the first 10 months of 2025. \u201cIf Sri Lanka reaches its projected 3 million annual tourist arrivals, at least 1 million could come from India alone, especially if Sri Lanka becomes a fully frictionless UPI-enabled destination,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n Jalan described the opportunity as transformational, particularly with the next wave of outbound Indian travellers emerging from tier-2 and tier-3 cities. These new travellers are value-conscious, but digitally confident.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThey trust Indian apps, Indian payment systems and Indian digital journeys. If Sri Lanka gets the experience right, it becomes closer than Bangkok, more convenient than Dubai and more interesting than many Southeast Asian markets,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n To unlock this potential, Jalan argued that payment acceptance must be universal, extending beyond hotels and big retailers to micro-merchants, homestays, guides, tuk-tuk drivers, craft sellers, fishermen and local eateries.\u00a0<\/p>\n He outlined how fintech can bring thousands of Sri Lankan small and medium enterprises (SMEs) into the formal digital economy, making them discoverable and bookable, while enabling transparent pricing and instant settlements.<\/p>\n \u201cImagine a fisherman in Jaffna getting paid instantly through QR, or a small homestay in Yala earning digitally from Indian travellers. When you solve trust and transparency, participation increases and prices stabilise naturally,\u201d he opined.<\/p>\n He added that digital payments generate valuable insights to personalise tourism offerings whether for families heading to beaches, couples preferring hill country, or younger groups seeking nightlife and adventure. \u201cA mature payments ecosystem allows Sri Lanka to curate experiences at scale,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Jalan proposed developing a national fintech\u2013tourism task force bringing together Government, tourism authorities, banks, fintech companies and travel platforms to address issues such as cross-border settlements, QR standardisation, and merchant on-boarding and regulatory clarity.\u00a0<\/p>\n He said this could evolve into a unified marketplace allowing travellers to discover, book, pay and experience everything in one digital journey.<\/p>\n Jalan said fintech is no longer an add-on, but the invisible backbone of modern tourism. \u201cImagine a traveller who plans on Paytm, lands in Colombo, discovers local gems, moves around easily, pays instantly, books the next experience on the go and returns home already planning the next visit. That is what happens when payments and travel work together,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cIndia has fintech. Sri Lanka has the most charming destination. It\u2019s time to connect them and build the world\u2019s most seamless travel corridor,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
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