Published on : Monday, March 2, 2015
The Union Budget has brought mixed reactions from the tourism industry but all experts agree that the visa on arrival (VoA) facility is bound to boost the tourism sector of India. An amount of Rs 1,573.07 crore has been kept aside for the tourism ministry for 2015-16, which is a rise of 33 per cent over last fiscal’s allocation, last year’s Rs 1,182.99 crore.
The visa on arrival (VoA) facility has been extended to 150 countries against 43.This facility is for tourists from countries like the US, Israel, Palestine and Japan to boost tourism sector. There is a proposal to provide resources and start work on heritage sites Churches & Convents of Old Goa, Hampi in Karnataka, Kumbalgarh and other Hill Forts of Rajasthan, Rani ki Vav in Patan in Gujarat, Leh Palace in Ladakh in J&K, Varanasi Temple town in UP, Jallianwala bagh in Amritsar in Punjab, and Qutub Shahi Tombs in Hyderabad in Telangana.
“The government has taken upon themselves to select certain circuits & destinations every year and develop them to resuscitate tourist traffic. The focus areas this year- Churches in Goa, forests in Rajasthan Leh Palace in Ladhakh, Jaliahwalah Bagh in Amritsar, clearly indicate the government’s interest in getting repeat tourists, by developing alternate & experiential tourism or renewing old sites, to heighten interest in these heritage destinations. Transformative changes in the railways network and development of certain routes and destinations will also promote travel and tourism amongst the large cross section of consumers.” According to Mr Vikram Malhi, Managing Director- Asia, Expedia.
Commenting on the impact of the budget on the tourism sector, Rakshit Desai, Managing Director India, FCm Travel Solutions and Flight Shop said, “The announcement for phase-wise extension of visa on arrival facility to 150 countries from the current 43 countries is a welcome measure that will augment additional tourist inflow and foreign tourist arrival to India. The identification of nine Cultural World Heritage Sites in the country for time-bound improvement and development highlights the government’s focus on building India as a heritage tourism destination. Further, ease of doing business initiatives like a single clearance window will foster an environment of business growth and encourage inflow of investments. We appreciate the vision behind the budgetary reforms but the industry needs more robust confidence-building measures.”
Mr Vikram Malhi, Managing Director- Asia, Expedia felt that focusing on women’s security would bring greater reassurance for the women tourists “This budget has effectively addressed the key issues that impact the travel sector like infrastructure development, developing heritage sites amongst several other measures to make India an attractive destination for both inbound and domestic tourism, increasing revenues from the sector. Enhancing visa on arrival to 150 countries is a clear testimony to this. The government has also retained focus on softer aspects like women’s security and clean India that will eventually help creating positive perceptions around the country and drawing more women & foreign tourists.
A major announcement that is likely to positively impact the OTA segment is the government push to create a cashless economy, by aiding digital coverage and debit, credit card penetration in the country. This will catalyse greater growth opportunities for players in this segment as more opportunities emerge from a wider ambit of consumers.”
Neelu Singh, COO, Ezeego1.com said that “we are happy with the thrust on domestic and inbound tourism by developing key tourist destinations and sites and making them more tourist-friendly, such as World Heritage Sites of old Goa, Hampi, Elephanta caves, Leh Palace and Varanasi temple town. It will help draw a lot of heritage and religious tourists. The government has highlighted the desire to incentivize cashless transactions which is a positive development for online sites such as Ezeego1.com. With individual tax payers getting tax benefit up to income of Rs 4.44 lakh, disposable income will increase, which is likely to indirectly induce leisure tourism. The Budget also pays heed to positioning India as a safe country for single female travellers by increasing contribution to the Nirbhaya Fund.”
The hassle-free process of VoA has given a fillip to Indian tourism whose share in world tourism is a paltry 0.6 per cent of international tourist arrivals compared to 7.8 per cent in France and 6.4 per cent in the US.
In the month of January, a total of 25,023 tourists arrived by availing VoA as compared to 1,903 last year, registering a growth of whooping 1,214.9 per cent. The high growth is due to introduction of ETA enabled VoA for 43 countries”. This facility allows entry of tourists into India within 30 days from the date of approval of ETA and is valid for 30 days stay from the date of arrival.
The tourists are allowed to enter and depart from nine international airports – Bengaluru, Chennai, Kochi, Delhi, Goa, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Mumbai and Thiruvananthapuram.
Speaking on airfares Mr Vikram Malhi, Managing Director- Asia, Expedia said “Indian travellers have been spoilt over the last 18months to buy air tickets 2-5months in advance or during airfare sales. While this incremental raise of 1.64% will increase the airfares a bit, they will be more than offset by the regular airfare sales that airlines keep announcing, without having much impact on the air travel bookings.”
However some analysts like President of Business Aircraft Operators Association (BAOA) Rohit Kapoor feel that this sector has been largely ignored by the minister. There were a number of demands that the Association had listed. There were expectations of a complete re-look in the tax regime on import of general and business aviation aircraft on the ground that existing policy includes a countervailing duty which is illogical as there civil aircraft is manufactured in India. A uniform and lower duty on both non-scheduled operator permit and private category was needed to encourage import of more aircraft for enhancing regional connectivity. But the severe taxation, aviation infrastructure has completely crippled such expectation for the sector. He also observed that jet fuel costs were highest in the world and 90 per cent of Indian aircraft were being maintained overseas due to high duties and costs.
A 2014 report by the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) says that every $1 million in travel and tourism spending in India generates $1.3 million in GDP. India has constantly missed the target of 10 million tourist arrivals and ranks 41st in the international tourism arrival, and 16th in world tourism receipts. The foreign exchange earned from tourism in 2014 was $19.6 billion as compared to $18.4 billion in 2013.
The VoA facility that has been increased to 150 countries will prove to a bit difficult to tackle for the country as Indian airports do not have the wherewithal and infrastructure to cope with clearing visa on arrival formalities. Although gateway cities are provided with air connectivity to tier 2 and tier 3 cities the situation is quite dismal. Even though building of low cost model airports is in the pipeline but most airlines are non operative in small towns owing to the cost and few passenger availability.
Tags: Indian Tourism, VoA
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