TravTalk India Online Magazine
Celebrating the fact that finally e-Tourist visa is operational, and the website is open for foreigners to apply, Rajiv Mehra, President, IATO says that after going over everything in detail, there are still many problems that need to be worked on.
Nisha Verma
Rajiv Mehra shares that they have written to the government saying the validity of 30 days of e-TV should be extended to at least 60 days. “It should also be a dual-entry or multiple-entry visa to begin with.” Secondly, ground transportation is not included. Hence, we asked the government to include at least the Indo-Nepal border land check station in this, as the Buddhist sector would be incomplete without it,” he says.
“Thirdly, while browsing the site, we noticed that the UK and Canada, as well as Malaysia, China, Hong Kong, and Macau, were not included in the e-TV list,” he says. We have urged that our source markets of the UK and Canada, followed by Malaysia, Hong Kong, and Macau, be included in e-TV immediately, with other nations joining later as the government sees fit. Tourist visas are now available for Indians in the United Kingdom. Even those Indians who already hold a tourist visa and are awaiting new visas are permitted to enter Canada. As a result, we should reciprocate and allow them to do so.”
Existing visas
Mehra also said, “We have urged the government for another 15-20 days, so that once the tourists arrive in India, they may look into whether visas already issued to other nationals, which are currently stopped, can be made valid.” This is because we have a limit of five lakh free tourist visas, and we shouldn’t offer them to people who already have them. Let’s strive to attract more tourists to the country and recoup some of the lost trade in the last 20 months. As a result, my proposal to the government is that all visas that have already been issued be reinstated in one month’s time, maximum.”
“Another concern is the return of airport permits, because once tourist traffic picks up, people will flock to the area.” As a result, our airport permits must be restored as soon as possible. We’ve spoken with the government about it. They’ve also reduced the number of passes per company, which we’ll manage for the time being. I’m hoping to have some of these significant concerns resolved by November 15 at least,” he said.
Scheduled flights
Another problem hurting tour operators is that, “Right from USA or South Africa to Europe, the fares are very high, and tourists will not visit India till fares are stabilised. That will happen when we start operating flights as per the bilateral agreements. Hence, the Government should allow scheduled flights to operate as soon as possible,” he suggests. On IATO’s front, members will be going on a Fam trip to Ayodhya on behalf of UP Tourism along with the media from November 1-4. There they will interact with the Union Minister of Tourism on November 2 and with the Chief Minister of UP on November 3.
