ETW Staff– Mumbai
Union home minister Rajnath Singh, along with Dr. Mahesh Sharma, minister of state (I/C), tourism and culture and minister of state for civil aviation launched the Tourist Visa on Arrival (TVoA) enabled with Electronic Travel Authorization (ETA) Scheme at Hotel The Ashok, Delhi.
The facility will be available at nine international airports in the country namely Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi and Goa. The TVoA enabled with ETA Scheme will facilitate nationals of 43 countries including Australia, Brazil, Cambodia, Cook Islands, Djibouti, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Finland, Germany, Indonesia, Israel, Japan, Jordan, Kenya, Kingdom of Tongo, Laos, Luxembourg, Mauritius, Mexico, Myanmar, New Zealand, Niue, Norway, Oman, Palestine, Papua & New Guinea, Philippines, Republic of Kiribati, Republic of Korea (i.e. South Korea), Republic of Marshall Islands, Republic of Nauru, Republic of Palau, Russia, Samoa, Singapore, Solomon Islands, Thailand, Tuvalu, UAE, Ukraine, USA, Vietnam and Vanuatu.
Dr. Sharma, in his address talked about the positive impact the country will have in boosting international tourist arrival with this visa facilitation. And said this is a landmark decision of the new Government under the leadership of Prime Minister to overcome the challenges of visa issues often raised by overseas tour operators. With Prime Minister himself promoting tourism during his overseas visits and stable Government at the Center and Home Minister Raj Nath ji coming to launch this unique visa relations programme shows the importance is accorded to tourism in national economic development.
Launching the facility, the union home minister said that India has a unique advantage in tourism sector owing to its geographical location and that no other country offers such abundance of diversity in weather conditions. He also assured that his Ministry would ensure a safe and secure environment for visiting foreign tourists.
Subhash Goyal, president, Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO) said, “For the last twenty years, IATO had been pleading with the Govt. for introduction of Visa-on-Arrival as also Electronic Visa Facilitation”. Goyal expressed his sincere gratitude and thanks on behalf of the entire tourism industry to Raj Nath Singh and Dr. Mahesh Sharma and assured the Government that when E-Visa is implemented in full swing from all the tourism generating countries, tourism to India will grow by at least 50 -100 per cent in the next two-three years.