The government has put in motion a series of measures that will drastically liberalize the visa regime in the country and ensure a significant boost in foreign tourist arrivals. Not only has the government extended the facility of visa on arrival for individuals from four to nine airports in the country but also given its nod for VoA option for a group of foreign tourists (four or more) using air or sea ports to enter the country.
The group VoA facility has been extended to all countries excluding Afghanistan, China, Iran, Iraq, Sudan and Pakistan and foreigners of Pakistani origin.
In effect from April 1, the measures mean that a family of four, or a group coming from any part of the world except for the countries on the negative list, can use the VoA facility. This significant measure has put India even above China in its liberalized visa regime. China has introduced a visa-free regime for 60 countries from January 1 this year.
India received about 6 million foreign tourists in a year which is a fraction of the world share in tourist arrivals. However, the growth of tourists arriving under the individual VoA scheme has been encouraging. In 2011, 12,761 VoAs were issued which increased by 26% to 16,084 in 2012. In January-March 2013, 5744 VoAs have been issued.
No comments:
Post a Comment