NITI report calls for streamlining visa approval processes to boost tourism

Despite progress through mechanisms such as E-Visa, India's visa regime has not yet evolved to match the accessibility, scale, and user experience offered by leading tourism economies in facilitating repeat and high-value travel, according to a NITI Aayog report unveiled on Tuesday.

Scaling visa facilitation in line with global benchmarks will be critical to enhancing India's international accessibility and competitiveness, it emphasized.

The report titled 'Unlocking Growth in Tourism and Hospitality Sector' calls for streamlining approval processes and creating a more facilitative visa regime, highlighting that the full potential of India's tourism sector remains constrained by regulatory complexity and frictions in international accessibility.


"Bridging this gap is essential to unlocking growth, enhancing competitiveness and strengthening India's position in global tourism flows," says the report.

On the supply side, regulatory fragmentation, duplicative approvals and high compliance burdens continue to slow investment, delay project execution, and limit the scale and quality of tourism infrastructure, it noted.

"On the demand side, despite progress through mechanisms such as E-Visa, India's visa regime has not yet evolved to match the accessibility, scale, and user experience offered by leading tourism economies, particularly in facilitating repeat and high-value travel," said the report by the government think tank.

Speaking at the launch of the report, Union Minister for Tourism Gajendra Singh Shekhawat said that complex compliance requirements, such as the multiple licences required by the hospitality sector, create uncertainty and dampen investor interest.

Clarifying that he was not in favour of doing away with compliance requirements, the minister explained the need to make them transparent, time-bound, and streamlined so that permissions can be obtained in advance.

He stressed upon the need to move towards time-bound and demand-based approvals for the hospitality sector.

The reforms outlined in the report focus on two complementary and mutually reinforcing levers: regulatory simplification and visa facilitation.

"On the regulatory front, rationalising requirements, eliminating redundancies, and streamlining approval processes can significantly improve the ease of doing business in tourism. This, in turn, will enable faster capacity creation, reduce project timelines and costs, and support the development of a more competitive and diversified tourism supply base," the report highlighted.

A streamlined regulatory environment can drive investment, formalisation and service quality, while an efficient and predictable visa regime can significantly improve international perception and ease of travel, the report observed.

Progress in these areas can be achieved through coordinated action across Union and State governments, with several reforms implementable through administrative rationalisation and improved alignment of existing frameworks, it suggests. PTI