Last November, when the Bharatiya Janata Party government extended the visa on arrival scheme to 43 countries , the results were on expected lines as the number of tourists skyrocketed.
Taking it one step further, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley announced in his budget speech that the facility will be extended to as many as 150 countries:
Even if there is some delay in implementation, as it has been promised to be done "in stages", the move promises to be a huge boost to the Indian tourism industry.
Looking at the numbers from the impact of visa on arrival for 43 countries would be a good enough indicator of the potential that Jaitley’s promise:
According to the data provided by the ministry of tourism, in January as many as 25,023 tourists arrived in India as compared to a measly 1,903 in the same month last year. The ministry gave full credit to its visa on arrival scheme for the massive surge of 1215% in tourism traffic in the country.
United States turned out to be the top source of tourists into the country as it occupied the top position with a massive tally of close to one-fourth of all tourists who came to India in the month of January. On the next two positions were Republic of Korea (18.26%) and Russian Federation (14.06%).
Tourism in India accounted for over 6.8% of the GDP in the year 2013-14 and it is further expected to rise up to 7.5% by the end of the current financial year. Not only this, the sector is also responsible for providing a nifty chunk of foreign exchange as it happens to be the third largest foreign currency earner for the country.
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Taking it one step further, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley announced in his budget speech that the facility will be extended to as many as 150 countries:
After the success of VISAS on arrival issued to travelers of 43 countries, I propose to increase the countries covered to 150, in stages.
Even if there is some delay in implementation, as it has been promised to be done "in stages", the move promises to be a huge boost to the Indian tourism industry.
Looking at the numbers from the impact of visa on arrival for 43 countries would be a good enough indicator of the potential that Jaitley’s promise:
According to the data provided by the ministry of tourism, in January as many as 25,023 tourists arrived in India as compared to a measly 1,903 in the same month last year. The ministry gave full credit to its visa on arrival scheme for the massive surge of 1215% in tourism traffic in the country.
United States turned out to be the top source of tourists into the country as it occupied the top position with a massive tally of close to one-fourth of all tourists who came to India in the month of January. On the next two positions were Republic of Korea (18.26%) and Russian Federation (14.06%).
Tourism in India accounted for over 6.8% of the GDP in the year 2013-14 and it is further expected to rise up to 7.5% by the end of the current financial year. Not only this, the sector is also responsible for providing a nifty chunk of foreign exchange as it happens to be the third largest foreign currency earner for the country.