Tourist arrivals with e-visa jump over 10 times in January-May 2015

MUMBAI: Tourist arrivals to the country under the e-visa facility have jumped over 10 times year-on-year during January-May 2015 when 1,10,657 tourists used the ‘e-Tourist Visa’ scheme launched in November last year.

In comparison, only 9,841 tourists used the earlier ‘ Visa on Arrival’ scheme during January- May 2014, according to tourism ministry data.

The Visa on Arrival facility was available to citizen of 12 countries while the e-Tourist Visa (eTV) facility was launched for nationals of 43 countries. Last month, the government extended the scheme to 31 more countries.

Under the eTV scheme, a foreign tourist can apply for a visa by uploading his passport and photograph and paying his/her visa fee online. The authorities process the application and send him/her an electronic travel authorisation, or e-visa, through email within 72 hours.

The tourism ministry statement further added that 15,659 tourist arrived on e-Tourist Visa during the month of May 2015 as compared to 1,833 during the month of May 2014, registering a growth of around 754%.

India has jumped 13 ranks in the World Economic Forum Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Index, 2015.



Top 10 Countries that availed e-Tourist Visa in May 2015

1. USA - 37.82%

2. Germany - 9.35%

3. Australia - 8.95%

4. Russian Federation - 5.85%

5. Republic of Korea - 4.30%

6. UAE - 3.53%

7. Mexico - 3.16%

8. Ukraine - 3.01%

9. Japan - 2.89%

10. Singapore - 2.43%



Source: Tourism Ministry