Rituparna Chatterjee – Mumbai
The Consulate General of the Federal Republic of Germany in Mumbai has witnessed a significant increase in student visa applications in 2014 by issuing around 12,000 student visas out of the 45,000 visas issued on a yearly basis, thereby recording a growth of 15-20 per cent year-on-year for five consecutive years. “Out of the 45,000 visas issued from Mumbai office on a yearly basis, majority of it comprises of business visas, followed by tourist visas. However, we have noticed a sharp increase in student visas over the last year, we are in five digits. Though there are more Indian students going to the US and UK due to language familiarity and family connections, Germany has also witnessed an increase and we are up to 12,000 Indian students,” stated Michael Ott, deputy consul general, Consulate General of the Federal Republic of Germany in Mumbai adding that the state-of-the-art infrastructural facilities at universities, lesser educational cost and numerous attractions and festivals of the destination have been the major draw for students.
Moreover, Germany has also witnessed a steady increase in the leisure segment because of tourism board’s aggressive advertising and marketing campaigns pan India. “The number of leisure tourists going to Germany has increased considerably. We haven’t been aggressive like other countries in Europe when it comes to advertising, however, in the last couple of years we have been having a huge clientele coming to attend trade fairs and we are enticing them to stay and go for a touristic programme. For leisure we now have a better focus, than in the past, on advertising. Now we have been more outgoing, we have increased our contact with the travel community in India. I expect the numbers to grow a lot,” he opined. Oktoberfest in Munich is a big draw for leisure travellers along with destinations like Stuttgart, Hamburg, he added.