A growth of 12.60 percent has been recorded in the number of tourists availing of the tourist Visa on Arrival (VoA) Scheme during the period January 2014. A total number of 1,903 VoAs have been issued in this period as compared to 1,690 VoAs during the corresponding period of 2012 registering a growth of 12.60 per cent.
The following are the other important highlights of VoAs issued during January 2014:
(i) During the month of January 2014, a total of 1,903 VoAs were issued under this Scheme as compared to 1,690 VoAs during the month of January 2013, registering a growth of 12.6%.
(ii) The number of VoAs issued under this scheme during January 2014 for nationals of the eleven countries were New Zealand (465), Japan (427), the Philippines (290), Singapore (273), Indonesia (257), Finland (124), Cambodia (20), Myanmar (20), Vietnam (15), Luxembourg (12) and Laos (0).
(iii) During January 2014, the highest number of VoAs were issued at New Delhi airport (783) followed by Mumbai (440), Chennai (282), Kolkata (126), Bangalore (116), Kochi (68), Hyderabad (62) and Trivandrum (26).
As a facilitative measure to attract more foreign tourists to India, Government launched the “Visa on Arrival” (VoA) Scheme in January 2010 for citizens of five countries, viz. Finland, Japan, Luxembourg, New Zealand and Singapore, visiting India for tourism purposes. The Scheme was extended to the citizens of six more countries, namely Cambodia, Indonesia, Vietnam, the Philippines, Laos and Myanmar in January 2011.