India ranks among the top countries in terms of its destination attractiveness but much lower in terms of arrivals and foreign exchange earnings. Lack of effective and tourist friendly visa facilitation has been hailed as the biggest deterrent. Effective visa mechanism is at the heart of harnessing tourism’s potential. A joint study by UNWTO and WTTC recently reinforces this fact.
The study revealed that visitor friendly visa facilitation is central to stimulating economic growth and job creation through tourism. According to the study, G20 economies (including India) can boost their international tourist numbers by an additional 122 million, generate an extra US$ 206 billion in tourism exports and create over five million additional jobs by 2015 by improving visa processes. The study further showed that of the 656 million international tourists who visited G20 countries in 2011, 110 million needed a visa, while millions more were deterred from travelling by the cost, waiting time and difficulty of obtaining a visa.
Referring particularly to the dramatic situation of unemployment, UNWTO Secretary-General, Taleb Rifai, in a recent statement, called on G20 governments to look into enhancing visa facilitation in support of job creation. “Small steps towards visa facilitation can result in big economic benefits. By facilitating visas, the G20 countries stand to gain five million jobs at a time of rampant unemployment across the world. These are in addition to the hundreds of millions of direct and indirect jobs already being supported every day by the sector.”
In a recent development, the third Inter-Ministerial Coordination Committee on Tourism Sector has decided to extend facility of Tourist Visa on Arrival at Goa, Trivandrum, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Kochi airports.
Also, with a view to encourage foreign tourist arrivals, the Government has decided to provide collective landing permits. According to the revised procedure, foreign tourists in groups of four or more arriving by air or sea and sponsored by Indian travel agencies approved by the Ministry of Tourism and with a pre-drawn itinerary may be granted collective landing permit for a period not exceeding 60 days, with multiple entry facilities to enable them to visit neighbouring countries.
Besides, it has been reliably learned that Ministry of Home Affairs has assured Ministry of Tourism that it would take steps to further simplify visa procedures. Union Tourism Minister K Chiranjeevi said, “This was a move forward and would go a long way towards boosting group travel to India, and would also boost the tourism industry in the country.”
IATO President, Subhash Goyal hoped that more countries will be added in VoA scheme very soon as this is also under favourable consideration by the Ministry of External Affairs and Ministry of Home Affairs.
Ralph De Souza, Committee Chairman, Goa Chamber of Commerce & Industries’ Tourism said, “This is a very positive development. Now every time a new country is added, Goa will automatically qualify. Besides, there is another list of 16 countries including Germany, Russia, Kazakhastan, Australia, Sweden and others that we are expecting the Government to grant VoA status soon.”
Hailing the latest development as a tremendous move by the Government, Kerala based ATE Group’s Chairman, and E M Najeeb, Executive Committee Member, IATO stated, “The Government needs to consider granting VoA to our traditional source markets in order to order to harness massive unexplored opportunity. Any additional arrival will add up also in terms of foreign exchange earnings and a new employment opportunity in the country.” Najeeb, however, lamented that there is still not enough recognition of tourism’s potential for the economy and the job sector.
Gary Khan, CEO, Hyderabad Convention Visitors Bureau – India said, “The State Tourism Department is spending millions to market Andhra and its capital Hyderabad. Hyderabad with its rich history, palaces, museums, historical sites, cuisine and shopping is a great destination. Hyderabad’s inclusion in the list of ports allowed to grant TVoA is very encouraging and further boost city’s profile as the MICE capital of India.”
