6.8% growth in tourists availing VoA scheme; maximum tourists from Japan
Updated: Mar 12, 2014 03:37:43pm
A total number of 3,883 VoAs have been issued in this period as compared to 3,637 VoAs during the corresponding period of 2013,” said official data.
During the month of February 2014, a total of 1,980 VoAs were issued under this scheme as compared to 1,947 VoAs during the month of February 2013, registering a growth of 1.7 per cent, the data said.
The number of VoAs issued under this scheme during February, 2014 for nationals of the eleven countries was Japan (539), New Zealand (389), Indonesia (299), the Philippines (283), Singapore (258), Finland (127), Myanmar (30), Vietnam (24), Luxembourg (18), Cambodia (10) and Laos (3).
The number of VoAs issued under the Scheme during January –February 2014 was Japan (966), New Zealand (854), the Philippines (573), Indonesia (556), Singapore (531), Finland (251), Myanmar (50), Vietnam (39), Cambodia (30), Luxembourg (30) and Laos (3).
During the period January-February 2014, the highest number of VoAs were issued at New Delhi airport (1697) followed by Mumbai (868), Chennai (487), Bangalore (280), Kolkata (268), Kochi (126), Hyderabad (115) and Trivandrum (42).
As a facilitative measure to attract more foreign tourists to India, Government launched the VoA Scheme in January 2010 for citizens of five countries - Finland, Japan, Luxembourg, New Zealand and Singapore, visiting India for tourism purposes. The Scheme was extended to the citizens of six more countries, namely Cambodia, Indonesia, Vietnam, the Philippines, Laos and Myanmar in January 2011. (KNN Bureau)