[In
2013, the number of foreign tourists grew 4.1 percent to 6.8 million, compared
to 6.6 million in 2012. India is aiming to draw 12.6 million international
tourist arrivals by 2016, a goal that is looking difficult to achieve.]
By
Malavika Vyawahare
 |
Prakash Singh/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
Travelers waiting at immigration counters at the
Indira Gandhi International Airport in
New Delhi on July 14, 2010.
|
NEW
DELHI — India said it would seek to expand its visa-on-arrival program to
tourists from 180 countries, including the United States and China, to
encourage more people to visit the country.
Currently,
only citizens of 11 countries can receive Indian visas on arrival, which costs
$60 per passenger, including children, and is valid for 30 days.
Rajeev
Shukla, minister for planning and parliamentary affairs, told reporters
Wednesday evening in Delhi that it would take about five or six months to set
up the infrastructure to process the additional visas on arrival. “We hope to
implement this from the next tourist season beginning October,” Mr. Shukla
said.
When
asked by reporters whether the countries affected would reciprocate the
gesture, the minister replied, “India needs these tourists. They may not.”
The
Indian tourism industry has seen slowing growth in international visitors over
the past few years. The number of international tourist arrivals rose 9.2
percent in 2011, according to government data, but grew only 4.3 percent in
2012.
In
2013, the number of foreign tourists grew 4.1 percent to 6.8 million, compared
to 6.6 million in 2012. India is aiming to draw 12.6 million international
tourist arrivals by 2016, a goal that is looking difficult to achieve.
“Three
years ago we were completely booked at this time, but now we hardly get one or
two clients in a week,” said Sunil Kumar, 42, who has been running a taxi
service catering to tourists in and around Delhi for the past two decades.
Mr.
Kumar attributed the decline in his business to overseas visitors’ concerns
about safety in north India.
“People
prefer going to south India now because of all the negative media publicity and
the incidents of violence against foreign women,” Mr. Kumar said.
Mr.
Kumar said his travel agent partner told him that tourists were choosing to go
to Sri Lanka, China and even Pakistan over India.
A
2011 evaluation study commissioned by the Tourism Ministry showed that the
visa-on-arrival program, which began in 2010, had a “significant and positive
impact” on foreigners’ decision to travel to India. Based on these findings,
the study recommended extending visas on arrival to other countries.
The
number of tourists applying for visas on arrival in December rose more than 20
percent compared to the same month in 2012, according to the government.
In
previous discussions about expanding the program, the Home Ministry had
objected to issuing visas on arrival to Chinese citizens, citing national
security concerns, especially in light of border incursions by Chinese troops.
The
decision to grant visas on arrival is not made by the Tourism Ministry but by
the Ministry of Planning and requires the nod of the Home Ministry.
But
the Chinese have emerged as the world’s biggest tourism spenders. Many Asian
countries are already benefiting from this trend, including the Maldives, a
tiny island-nation in the Indian Ocean, which is a big draw for Chinese
tourists.
Yet
foreign travelers shouldn’t rejoice just yet. Expanding the visa-on-arrival
program would call for massive investments in infrastructure and personnel,
which would require other ministries’ approval. There is also the possibility
that after the national elections this spring, the decision to expand the
number of eligible countries could be reviewed.
For
now, eight countries have been left out of the expanded visa program: Pakistan,
Sudan, Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Nigeria, Sri Lanka and Somalia. Mr. Shukla
declined to comment on why these countries had been excluded.
However,
officials within the Tourism Ministry, who asked for anonymity because they
were not authorized to speak to the media, told India Ink that apart from
security concerns, Pakistan’s delay in granting India “most favored nation”
status was one of the reasons for the exclusion.
Another
neighbor, Sri Lanka, was passed over because of its history with the Tamil
insurgency and the attendant security concerns, one official said.
