Kerala Tourism, which targets 30 lakh tourist arrivals by 2021, has welcomed the Centre’s initiative to extend Tourist Visa on Arrival (TVoA) facility to 43 countries. “This new facility will make travelling to Kerala hassle-free for citizens of many countries. We will ensure that potential visitors are aware of this advantage by intensifying our promotional campaigns there,” A P Anil Kumar, Tourism Minister, Govt. of Kerala, said. He added that Some of Kerala’s key markets such as Germany, Australia, Japan, Russia, USA and UAE are also on the list and that will be a great boost to tourism.
Commenting on the move, G. Kamala Vardhana Rao, Tourism Secretary of Kerala, said that the TVoA enabled with ETA, which has been extended to even more countries, has opened up wider markets for Kerala Tourism in Asia and Europe. “We intend to take full advantage of this,” he said.
Kerala Tourism Director Shri P I Sheik Pareeth said convenient travel facilities coupled with the focus on infrastructure building and quality services should help the state maintain its status as one of the leading tourism destinations in the world.
Since August 2014 when the TVoA facility was first introduced at the Thiruvananthapuram airport, a roughly 250 sq ft holding area has been set aside in the Immigration section and the exclusive visa desks are manned by Intelligence Bureau officials. Special enclosures have been built for photographing visitors, and displays, signages and foreign exchange counters have been set up at the facility.
It took part in JATA Tourism Expo for the second year running in 2014 and organised road shows in countries like Australia, New Zealand, Finland and Russia.
