The body said it has made numerous representations and sent letters to the Tourism, Home Affairs and External Affairs Ministry requesting them for restoration of e-visas for the UK, Canada and other source markets for India. “Having failed to evoke any response from these ministries, we have written to the prime minister, hoping for a quick resolution,“ said its president Rajiv Mehra.
According to Mehra, IATO has received a number of requests from its members and foreign counterparts expressing concern on the delay the intended tourists in the UK are facing in getting a normal visa for India as there is no e-tourist visa facility available at present. “Appointments are not available to intending foreign tourists at the VFS Global offices in the UK and it is taking anywhere between six to eight weeks in the UK to get a normal Indian visa. Even for that, appointments by the VFS Global offices are not being given and the handling of the normal paper visa for India is being done by the embassy in the UK and VFS Global is very discouraging and harassing for the tourists planning to come to India as it is taking two to three months to get a normal tourist visa," said Mehra.
He added that the body has been receiving feedback that if the situation does not improve, foreign tour operators will likely stop selling India tour packages. Due to the non-availability of e-tourist visas for the UK, Canada and other source markets, the country is losing 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 nine 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 Indian visa, it is difficult to achieve our goal of recreating employment in tourism sector and to contribute for the economic development through inbound tourism" said Mehra."
According to the ministry of Tourism, in its report, India Tourism Statistics 2022, during the year 2021, foreign tourist arrivals in India registered a negative growth of 44.5% over 2020.
