Indian visitors seem to have arrived on the world stage finally, and the globe seems to be noticing and figuring their value. No wonder, a growing figure of the nations are putting out all stops to woo the Indian travelers with easier visa norms and ‘visa on arrival’ schemes these days. Yes, the stock of the Indian visitors seems to be one the rise presently what a growing figure of the global destinations reportedly relaxing their visa and admission rules for them!
As per a new report, during the past eight to 10 months, several countries aggressively courted the Indian guests with an eye on the likely accruing revenues. The latest nation to jump the bandwagon is the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The key reason: it knows that the visitors from India would pump in lots of money and help its already rich economy grow further.
As per the information that we have on the subject, the Arab nation in question will proffer free 48-hour Transit Visas to the visitors from India, and it may be stretched by an additional 96 hours for just 50 dirhams (1,000 Indian Rupees). The news arrives post India reportedly left Saudi Arabia behind to surface as the topmost source market for Dubai during the year gone by.
Reportedly, the Middle East, Japan, and Central Europe are other important overseas hotspots aggressively wooing the Indian visitors and accepting a more friendly approach towards them these days.
Israel proclaimed a cut down in the visa charges for the travelers from India, from Rs 1,700 to Rs 1,100 recently, in the month of May to be precise. Reportedly, this June, it launched an Express Visa that’s obtainable in two working days. The reviewed application charges are for the B2 visa, which covers travel & sight-seeing.
Significantly, from January 1, yet another important hotspot, Japan, has already made its visa norms easier for the Indians looking for Multiple-entry Visas for short-term stays.
Yet another key hotspot, Oman, will reportedly provide visas on arrival to those visa aspirants from India with a visa or residence permit for some specific nations, including the UK, the US, Japan, Australia, and the Schengen nations. The USP of this offer is that the escorting spouses and kids of the main applicant it may also get it.
As per the UN World Tourism Organization, by 2020, India will contribute a staggering 50 million outbound travelers, up from 20 million by 2017.
Indian Visitors Have Deep Pockets & Spend Big
Meanwhile, and sharing his thoughts on the subject, a concerned person was quoted as saying that numerous well-known places across the globe are courting Indian guests with easier visa processes such as evisas with the reason being they have figured the potential of the HUGE Indian travel market.
That the Indian visitors also happen to be big spenders when travelling out of the country also helps in big way, and acts as a facilitator for the different hotspots, to throw their doors wide open, he added, certain reports doing the rounds that claim that the visitors from India are by and large stingy notwithstanding.
Expressing his views on the issue, another concerned person was reportedly quoted as saying that with the ballooning leisure and business travel particularly to Israel & Japan the visa relaxations will prove beneficial to the visitors.
Significantly, Israel registered its most encouraging numbers from India during the year, i.e., 2017, when nearly 60,000 people from India made a trip to it. The new bonhomie seen between the two countries could be a key reason behind this development.
Speaking in glowing terms about the Indian visitors and the contributions that they make to the economy of a place, another concerned person this time around the director, Israel Ministry of Tourism, India and the Philippines reportedly, stated that the inbound numbers have already registered a jump of 27% (to 19,000) in the Indian tourist arrivals between the months of January and April, vis-à-vis the identical time-frame last year, helping his organization to get a step closer to its goal of 1 lakh this year.
Apart from the said improvements, his ministry was also working toward making the group visa procedure simpler for the guests from India he went on to add reportedly.
Significantly, VFS Global, the provider of visa services in India for nearly 40 nations comprising the Schengen region and the US reportedly, processed approximately 5 million petitions in the nation in 2017.
As per a report that further shows the growing clout of the Indian visitors, between April 17 to December 31 the Indians flying Air Astana or any other Kazakh airline may obtain 100% free 72-hour Transit Visas for Kazakhstan.
Serbia relieved Indians from the requirement of getting visas during the year gone by for a 30-day time-frame. Not to be left behind, Uzbekistan will offer electronic visas to the Indian visitors in July. It had reportedly started a friendly visa programme for the guests from Indian early this year, via scrapping the mandatory ‘invitation letter’ requirement for visa petitions.
