By Ashraf Padanna/Thiruvananthapuram
The tourist visa-on-arrival (T-VoA) facility introduced at the Thiruvananthapuram and Kochi airports marks a new chapter for Kerala’s tourism industry, Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy said yesterday.
The T-VoA allows tourists to request for a visa upon their arrival at the two airports. The fee is $60 and the visa is valid for up to 30 days. It will be issued only twice in one calendar year and to visitors who come to India for recreation, sightseeing and meeting friends or relatives.
Those applying for the visa should not have residence or occupation in India and should hold a passport with a minimum validity of six months. They should need to produce proof of confirmed hotel booking and return tickets when applying for the T-VoA.
“This will help attract more foreign visitors to the state,” Chandy said after reviewing arrangements at the special T-VoA counter, which became operational on August 15 at the international airport, along with Tourism Minister A P Anil Kumar and other top officials.
A 250sq ft holding area has been set aside in the immigration section and the exclusive visa desks are manned by Intelligence Bureau officials. Special enclosures have been built for photographing visitors, and displays, signages and foreign exchange counters have been set up at the facility.
The two airports are among only the eight in the country to offer T-VoA. It was rolled out in the first phase in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai. Two other airports that got T-VoA facility in the second phase are Bangalore and Hyderabad.
Kerala recorded 7,89,698 foreign tourist arrivals in 2012 and the foreign exchange earnings touched Rs45.48bn. Kerala is also the only state to have two airports offering the service.
T-VoA is currently available for citizens of 11 countries – Japan, Singapore, Finland, Luxembourg, New Zealand, the Philippines, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Myanmar and Indonesia. These countries are the markets where Kerala Tourism sees vast potential and is beginning to make significant inroads.
The tourist arrivals from Japan rose by around 56% in five years to 11,440 in 2012; and the arrivals from Finland more than doubled over the period to 5,160 last year. Tourist arrivals from countries such as New Zealand, Singapore and the Philippines have similarly risen between 75% and 90% since 2008.
New visa facility will boost Kerala tourism, says Chandy
Không có nhận xét nào:
Đăng nhận xét