NEW DELHI: During the month of August, 2015, 22,286 tourists arrived on e-tourist visa as compared to 2,705 during the month of August the prior year, a growth of 723.9 per cent. The figure for January- August, 2015 was 1,69,976 tourist arrivals on etourist visa as compared to 17,120 during January-August, 2014, a growth of 892.9 per cent. The maximum number of tourists were from the US.
The high growth has been attributed to the introduction of e-tourist visa for 113
countries. Earlier the scheme was TVoA for 12 countries, according to a
statement of the Tourism Ministry.
In the list of 113 countries, 36 countries were added on August 15, 2015. This
covers arrivals at 16 airports in India.
The Government launched tourist visa on arrival (TVoA) enabled by electronic
travel authorization (ETA), presently known as e-Tourist Visa scheme, on
November 27, 2014.
The percentage shares of top 10 countries availing e-tourist visa
facility during August 2015 were as follows:
USA (25.93%), Germany (10.00%), UAE (8.92%), France (8.76%), Australia
(7.20%), Canada (6.39%), Republic of Korea (4.23%), Japan (3.41%),
Russian Federation (2.37%) and Singapore (2.22%).
The share of different ports in tourist arrivals on e-tourist
visa during August 2015 were as follows: New Delhi (42.67%), Mumbai
(23.40%), Bengaluru (10.37%), Chennai (9.07%), Kochi (5.44%), Hyderabad
(4.21%), Kolkata (2.38%), Trivandrum (1.87%) and Goa (0.58%).
e-tourist visa is issued to passport-holders of the following countries and
territories:- Andorra, Anguilla, Antigua & Barbuda, Argentina, Armenia,
Aruba, Australia, Bahamas, Barbados, Belgium, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil,
Cambodia, Canada, Cayman Island,Chile, China, China- SAR Hongkong, China-
SAR Macau, Colombia, Cook Islands, Costa Rica, Cuba, Djibouti, Dominica,
Dominican Republic, East Timor, Ecuador, El Salvador, Estonia, Fiji, Finland,
France, Georgia, Germany, Grenada, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras,
Hungary, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Kenya, Kiribati,
Laos, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Malaysia, Marshall
Islands, Mauritius, Mexico, Micronesia, Monaco, Mongolia, Montenegro,
Montserrat, Mozambique, Myanmar, Nauru, Netherlands, New
Zealand,Nicaragua, Niue Island, Norway, Oman, Palau, Palestine, Panama,
Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Republic of
Korea, Republic of Macedonia, Russia, Saint Christopher and Nevis, Saint Lucia,
Saint Vincent & the Grenadines, Samoa, Seychelles, Singapore, Slovenia,
Solomon Islands, Spain, Sri Lanka, Suriname, Sweden, Taiwan, Tanzania,
Thailand, Tonga, Turks & Caicos island, Tuvalu, UAE, Ukraine, United Kingdom,
USA, Uruguay, Vanuatu, Vatican City-Holy See, Venezuela, Vietnam.
The following are the eligibility criteria:- The travellers' objective must
be one of these: recreation, sight seeing, casual visit to meet friends or relatives, short duration medical treatment or casual business visit;Passport should have at least six months validity from the date of arrival in India. The passport should have at least two blank pages for stamping by the Immigration Officer;The travellers should have return ticket or onward journey
ticket,with sufficient money to spend during his/her stay in India; The travellers having Pakistani passport or Pakistani origin need to apply for regular visa at Indian Mission; Not available to diplomatic/official passport-
holders; Not available to individuals endorsed on parent’s/spouse’s passport i.e.
each individual should have a separate passport;Not available to international travel document Holders.
The number of foreign tourists increased to 207.31 lakh and foreign exchange earnings (FEEs) from tourism reached Rs.94, 487 crore. The tourist visa on arrival (TVOA) scheme played a significant role in this growth.
