India had made the provision for around 5 Lakh free tourist visas this year to give boost to the Tourism Industry but due to something or the other only 15 thousand visas were issued till date resulting into the slow movement of international travel to India.
Goa’s Tourism industry already facing a big blow due to the delayed international flights as a result of spike in the Covid cases in Russia and UK.
According to the reports, the Indian government had extended travel ban till end of November causing a big dismay to the stakeholders of the industry.
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The union government had decided to extend the ban on the international flights till 30th November due to the rise in Covid cases in the Russia and UK.
The report published in the Business Line suggested that only 15,000 free visas were issued out of the total quota of 5 lakh visas resulting into the slow pick up of the international travel movement to India.
In the month of June 2021, when the cases have started declining and India achieved the maximum number of vaccinations, the ministry of finance made announcement of “Free Visa” scheme for the foreign tourists till the end of March 2022.
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According to the sources, a foreign tourist stays in India for approximately 21 days on an average while spending around 34 USD (INR2,400) per day.
According to the official data, 10.93 million foreign tourists visited India in 2019 and spent $30 billion. “We are prepared to welcome back the tourists. Our vaccination programme is doing very well. Besides, all the stakeholders that are part of the tourism eco-system are being fully vaccinated on priority,” said a Tourism Ministry official.
Last month, the government announced granting tourist visas to those travelling by chartered flights by October 15 and those by regular planes from November 15. The e-visa for India is available for the citizens of 156 countries. However, currently, China, Canada and Hong Kong are among the countries that cannot avail this facility.
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According to Tourism Ministry officials, Russian tourists have not availed chartered service due to the spike in Covid-19 cases in Russia.
It is expected that the first chartered flight ferrying tourists to India will land in Goa, from the UK, in mid-December 2021.
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