Thursday, August 16, 2012

Foreign Travellers Opting for Indian Visa on Arrival Rises

More and more foreign travellers taking flights to India are now opting for the country’s Visa on Arrival (VoA) scheme. The country has reported a growth of nearly 15 per cent in the number of foreign tourists taking the facility in July 2012 in comparison to same month last year.

Official data reveals a growth of 14.8 per cent in July this year over the same period last year. A total of 941 flyers who grabbed flights to India in the month opted for VoAs. In the same month last year, 820 travellers taking India bound flights were issued visa on arrival.

The period of January-July 2012 also saw a growth of 16.2 percent when compared to the corresponding period of 2011. 6,594 VoAs were issued to foreigners taking flights to the nation from January to July 2011, whereas in 2012 the figure rose to 7,662 travellers taking advantage of the scheme for these 7 months.

Japan accounted for maximum number of tourists who booked flights to India and availed the VoA facility, followed by New Zealand and Indonesia. Delhi airport registered the highest number of visa issuance, chased by Mumbai and Chennai.

India launched the VoA scheme in January 2010 to boost country’s tourism interests and to tempt travellers to grab India bound flights. Initially only 5 countries - Finland, Japan, Luxembourg, New Zealand and Singapore – were offered the privilege. However later on, tourists from Cambodia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Philippines, Laos and Myanmar taking flights to the destination were also offered the VoA plan.

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