Minister of State for Tourism K. Chiranjeevi on Wednesday said a proposal to grant visa-on-arrival (VoA) to tourists from Germany, Russia, France and South Africa was under his Ministry’s active consideration.
The Ministry had also asked the Home Ministry to consider grant of VoA for 16 more countries in an attempt to give a big push to arrivals.
Mr. Chiranjeevi was speaking at the inauguration of India pavilion at the International Tourism Bourse (ITB) in Berlin on Wednesday. He said Germany was an important market for India as during 2011, over 240,000 Germans visited India. “Foreign tourist arrivals to India constitute only 0.64 per cent of the world tourist arrivals and foreign exchange earnings account for 1.61 per cent of the world tourism receipts. This is a matter of concern for all of us in the Ministry. Our endeavour is to increase India’s share to 1 per cent of the world tourist arrivals by 2016,” he said.
The Minister is on a five-day visit to Germany.
Mr. Chiranjeevi last week met Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde and submitted a proposal seeking the extension of VoA for 16 countries.
Consistent with the Look East policy, the Tourism Ministry has included Thailand, Malaysia and Brunei in the proposed VoA list. It has also sought the inclusion of some Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) countries along with Russia, Ukraine, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan. The other countries proposed for the extension of the facility are Spain, Poland, Sweden, Norway, Brazil, Trinidad and Tobago. The VoA facility is now available for tourists from countries such as Singapore, New Zealand, Japan, Vietnam, Indonesia, Myanmar and Philippines.
Keywords: visa-on-arrival policy, India-Germany ties, Look East policy
Many years ago, West Germany had a No-Visa required for Indian
Passport holders. Incredible as it may seem, this is true. Following
the end of WW-II, India, at Pandit Nehru's behest was a one of the few
countries that was generous enough to waive war reparations from a
defeated and impoverished Germany! A grateful German government
returned the favor with the No-Visa policy. I visited many countries
in Europe in 1973, and had to go from pillar to post to get my visa
stamps in advance for various other countries on my list. My proudest
moment came when our tour bus crossed into Germany, and as expected,
the immigration officer just looked at my Indian passport and said
welcome! This at a time when the Indian Rupee was worth almost
nothing, and the Indian economy was in a shambles. Years later, the
Germans did tighten their visa policy for Indians. With India now on
the rise, visa on arrival must only be granted on a reciprocal basis.
I am sure our friends will understand.
All such visa on arrival agreements should only take place on a quid pro
quo basis. Anything short of that is disrespectful to the Indian citizen
who has to face an arduous process to obtain a visa if VOA is not a
possibility. Understood there is disparity in per capita income and VOA
facilities could unleash a flood of visa abusers on the wealthier
countries but there are other ways to screen them other than through
blanket visa before arrival requirements for all Indians.
Well a great move..
Alas, that will not be enough, 0.6%, 1%, shouldn't the ministry of tourism be shut down saving a lot of exchequers money ?
What in India will attract the tourists? To answer that, its all that was either built by the royal dynasties of India, the mughals or during the britisher's rule. There's nothing famous built post independence that attracts the international crowd, and whatever we have from the legacies are so poorly maintained that people refrain from India.
So all this VOA is like going for a plastic surgery knowing that you have a terminal illness..
Disappointing :(
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