Tourist Visa on Arrival (VoA) for 40 more countries including the US, the UK, Brazil, Germany, Canada and Australia, would soon be a reality as the Ministry of Home Affairs is expected to clear the proposal soon. The proposal to allow on-arrival tourist visa to citizens of 40 more countries will be a reality soon as the Home Ministry is expected to give its clearance soon, shared Rajeev Shukla, Minister of State for Planning and Parliamentary Affairs, Government of India, reported PTI. Elaborating further Shukla said, “Home Ministry’s clearance would be last and final approval required for this proposal as it has already been approved by other ministries and departments like External Affairs, Tourism and Prime Minister’s Office,”
The countries for which VoA facility would be extended include UAE, Saudi Arabia, France, Italy, Swedan, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Spain, Belgium, Austria, Denmark, Poland, Norway and Ireland. Currently under the VoA system, India has agreement with countries, including Japan, Finland, Singapore, Indonesia, Luxembourg, New Zealand, Cambodia, Vietnam, the Philippines, Laos and Myanmar.
According to Tourism Ministry data, foreign tourist arrivals in the country in 2013 saw an increase of about 4.1 per cent as compared to 2012. During the entire 2013, 68.48 lakh (provisional) tourists visited India compared to 65.78 lakh in 2012. In 2012, the number of foreign tourists visited India increased by 4.3 per cent over the previous year. India earned USD18.133 billion as tourism fee in 2013 and registered a growth of 2.2 per cent compared to USD17.737 billion with growth of 7.1 per cent in 2012 over 2011.
