India Opens Visa-on-Arrival for Three Countries
In a move to boost international tourism, the Indian government has announced that it will now allow nationals from Japan, South Korea, and the United Arab Emirates to obtain a visa-on-arrival for tourism, business, conferences, and medical purposes. The new policy, which went into effect on August 6th, 2024, allows these travelers to visit India for up to 60 days, with the option to visit the country twice during that period.
The visa-on-arrival facility is currently available at six major airports in India: Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Kolkata, and Mumbai. This new policy complements India's existing e-visa program, which offers electronic travel authorization (ETA) to citizens from 167 countries for the same four categories of travel.
The timing of this decision is significant, as India's tourism industry continues to recover from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2023, the country welcomed over 9.2 million foreign tourists, a 44% increase from 2022, but still below the pre-pandemic figure of 10.9 million visitors in 2019. The government's latest Economic Survey for 2023-24 also shows that India earned INR 2.3 trillion ($27.5 billion) in foreign exchange through tourism last year, a 66% increase from 2022 but still 14% behind 2019 levels.
While this new visa-on-arrival policy is a step in the right direction, experts suggest that the government needs to take more substantial measures to truly position India as a global tourism destination. In the recent budget announcement, the finance minister emphasized the focus on making India a global tourist hub, but the global promotion budget for the sector was not increased, having been reduced by 97% in the interim budget earlier this year.
Nonetheless, the visa-on-arrival policy for Japan, South Korea, and the UAE is a significant development, given the close ties and proximity of these countries to India. By making it easier for travelers from these nations to visit, the Indian government hopes to capitalize on the growing demand for international travel and further boost its tourism industry in the coming years.
