NEW DELHI: Tourism ministry has sought greater travel flexibility by proposing visa-on-arrival (VoA) facilities in 16 more countries. Tourism minister K Chiranjeevi met home minister Sushilkumar Shinde for extension of services to countries like Germany, France, Brazil, South Africa, Russia and other CIS countries.
"The extension VoA facilities for tourists to the countries is important as we feel that these are potential source markets to India," said a senior ministry official.
Consistent with the Look East policy, tourism ministry has included Thailand, Malaysia and Brunei in the proposed VoA list.
Keeping an eye on the emerging market of CIS countries, the ministry has sought the extension of the VoA facility for Russia, Ukraine, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan. The other countries proposed for the extension of the facility are Spain, Poland, Sweden, Norway, Brazil, Trinidad & Tobago.
Now, the VoA facilities are available for tourists from 11 countries, including Singapore, New Zealand, Japan, Vietnam, Indonesia, Myanmar and the Philippines. There were 16,084 foreign tourists, who had availed the VoA facility last year, as against 12,761 in 2011.
VoA is an attraction for potential tourists in key markets and at times also helps in tapping people who make decisions at the last moment.
An independent study conducted by the Indian Institute of Tourism and Travel Management ( IITTM) has noted that the VoA scheme has a significant and positive impact on the decision to travel to India, and it should be expanded to cover more countries and more ports of entry.
Tourism ministry seeks VoA facility for 16 more countries
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Tourism ministry seeks VoA facility for 16 more countries
