Increase in number of tourists in India on e-Tourist Visa during Jan-Aug 2015

January to August, 2015, during an increase in tourist arrivals on tourist visas

Ques: According to figures recently released by the Ministry of Tourism, most tourists came from which country on e-tourist visa during January – August in 2015?

a. Japan
b. Canada
c. Singapore
d. USA

Ans: d

Related facts:

  • September 10, 2015, the Ministry of Tourism released data for the tourist came on e-Tourist Visa between January-August, 2015.
  • During January- August, 2015 a total of 1, 69,976 tourists arrived on e-Tourist Visa as compared to 17,120 during January-August, 2014 registering a growth of 892.9%.
  • During January-August 2015the most tourists came from the US on e-Tourist Visas.
  • During the month of August, 2015 a total of 22,286 tourist arrived on e-Tourist Visa as compared to 2,705 during the month of August, 2014 registering a growth of 723.9%.
  • The percentage shares of top 10 source countries availing e-Tourist Visa facility during August 2015 were as follows: USA (25.93%), Germany (10.00%), UAE (8.92%), France (8.76%), Australia (7.20%), Canada (6.39%), Republic of Korea (4.23%), Japan (3.41%), Russian Federation (2.37%) and Singapore (2.22%).
  • The percentage shares of different ports in tourist arrivals on e-Tourist Visa during August 2015 were as follows: New Delhi (42.67%), Mumbai (23.40%), Bengaluru (10.37%), Chennai (9.07%), Kochi (5.44%), Hyderabad (4.21%), Kolkata (2.38%), Trivandrum (1.87%) and Goa (0.58%).
  • It is known that Government of India launched Tourist Visa on Arrival (TVoA) enabled by Electronic Travel Authorization (ETA), presently known as e-Tourist Visa scheme on 27th November 2014.
  • At present e-Tourist Visa facility is available for citizens of 113 countries (including 36 countries for which the facility was extended on 15th August, 2015) arriving at 16 Airports in India (includes 7 airports added from 15th August, 2015).
  • The promotion of tourism in India encouraged by the government is to extend the scheme to target 150 countries.

Reference:

http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=126796
https://indianvisaonline.gov.in/visa/tvoa.html