It is well known that tourists decide well in advance about the destinations they will be travelling to and given the delay and difficulty in procuring Indian visas from source countries, the sector may not see the revival that was expected and quite probable that they may travel to neighbouring countries as it is easier to procure their visas. According to Mr. Mehra “ IATO is in receipt of a number of requests from our members/foreign counterparts expressing their concern on the delay the intending tourists in UK are facing in getting a Normal Visa for India as there is NO e-Tourist Visa at present. Appointments are not available to intending foreign tourists at the VFS Global offices in the UK. It is taking 6 to 8 weeks’ time in the UK to get a Normal Indian Visa and even for that also appointments by the VFS Global offices are not being given. Handling of Normal paper Visa for India by the Embassy in the UK/VFS Global is very discouraging and harassing for the tourists planning to come to India as it is taking 2 to 3 months to get a Normal Tourist Visa and that too after a lot of efforts”.
IATO is getting feedback that if the situation does not improve, foreign tour operators will stop selling Indian tour packages. Due to the Non-availability of E-Tourist Visa for UK, Canada and other source markets, we as a country are losing huge business as tourists from these countries are opting for alternative destinations. If this situation continues it will be a big loss for the Inbound tourism business and the entire season may be lost, causing further loss of foreign exchange earnings and loss of employment as one foreign tourist coming to India creates 9 jobs directly or indirectly.
“We are trying to recreate jobs for the trained tourism professionals who have lost their jobs due to Covid-19, but under the circumstances when there are a lot of problems in getting an Indian Visa, it is difficult to achieve our goal of recreating employment in the tourism sector and to contribute for the economic development through inbound tourism” adds Mr. Mehra
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