The travel and tourism industry has welcomed the government’s move to restart issuing of visas to foreign tourists, and said it should now allow resumption of regular scheduled commercial international flights.
The home ministry on Thursday announced that it will begin granting tourist visas to foreigners wanting to come to India on chartered flights with effect from October 15. Those travelling to India on flights other than chartered aircraft would be able to do so from November 15.
The ministry also said that all Covid-19 protocols and norms notified by the ministry of health and family welfare will have to be adhered to by foreign tourists and carriers bringing them into India at landing stations.
Rajiv Mehra, president of the Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO), a body representing over 1,600 operators handling overseas tourists, told Economic Times that while the association welcomes the announcement, along with the e-visas, it would also want the government to fully operationalise the international flights, as was the case prior to March last year.
“At present, the international airfares are too high, which will be a big impediment towards normalisation of tourism flow,” the publication quoted Mehra as saying. “We appeal to the government to resume international flight operations and all airlines should be allowed to start operating their flights as per the bilateral agreement that was in place before March 2020, so that foreign tourists who want to visit our country can book their tickets at competitive rates.”
Nakul Anand, chairman of the Federation of Associations in Indian Tourism & Hospitality (FAITH), said Indian tourism, which had seen almost 11 million international inbound tourists and almost $30 billion in foreign exchange, has been shut down since March last year, creating severe financial distress for the tourism, travel and hospitality industry. “We look forward to a healthy start to inbound tourism, and given there is no third wave, we hope all countries will encourage visitation,” he said.
Jyoti Mayal, president of the Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI), said her association had been following up with various ministries and had given innumerable representations on the matter.
“We had told them to at least announce a date, as other countries start planning in advance and we shouldn’t lose out on the entire season,” the publication quoted her as saying.
