With the government of India more than doubling the number of countries whose citizens can avail of a visa on arrival facility, the travel trade, which has been facing a lull, is expecting business to increase by at least a tenth.

Firms such as Inorbit Tours, Cox & Kings, BCD Travel, Ezeego 1 are expecting a surge in demand by around 10 to15 per cent from foreign tourists. This, believe the tourism industry players, will increase their revenues at a time when corporates have begun to take a hard look at all non essential travel and entertainment expenditure. “This could lead to a real ‘comeback’ of foreign nationals from these countries. We should consider this as a period of improvement, which could contribute to around 10 per cent increase in demand from foreign tourists,” said Karen Anand, head-relationships of Cox & Kings. The company said aggressive promotions in these countries would help draw more crowds. “This step would come to the rescue of late decision making travellers. “We expect an increase of 25 to 30 per cent in inbound visitors,” said Om Prakash Sahgal, director of Mumbai-based Inorbit Tours, a large travel consolidator. According to him, Indian tourism ministry should take initiatives to promote India in all countries to whom the VoA facility has been extended.

Ezeego1.com expects around 10 per cent increase in foreign tourist inflow as a result of this measure effectively bucking the drop in world tourist traffic caused by the global economic slowdown. “We expect the growth in incoming tourists to be around 10 per cent from the globe. The move would definitely have a positive impact on sales and profits,” said Ajay Bali, managing director of BCD Travel India whose parent is one of the world’s largest corporate travel firms. Securing visas for travel to India can often be a time consuming procedure for many foreign nationals. Many tourist destinations globally, such as Hong Kong, follow a visa on arrival (VoA) system that aims to make travel for tourists hassle free.

“The central government has decided to extend VoA facility to 13 more countries in a bid to help achieve its target of doubling foreign tourist arrivals to India,” Neelu Singh, chief operating officer (COO) of travel portal Ezeego1.com told Financial Chronicle. Hitherto, the VoA facility was available for nationals of 11 countries including Japan, Philippines, Singapore, New Zealand, Vietnam and Finland.

Foreign tourists are the backbone of major travel destinations such as Goa, Delhi, Agra and Jaipur and particularly for higher end travel service and hotel providers. The depreciation of the rupee has made travel to India cheaper for many foreigners and the travel trade hopes that the boost would help them combat a slump in revenues and profits. “Last year, India extended the VoA scheme for citizens of Myanmar and Indonesia in addition to nine other countries,” said Singh. “The change boosted the foreign tourist arrivals in India last year by 8.9 per cent with 6.29 million tourists as compared to 5.78 tourists in 2010,” she added.

Ezeego 1 plans to promote Indian destinations to foreign tourists and is counting on the VoA scheme boosting sales and positively impacting its bottom-line. Increased tourist traffic would also benefit the ecosystem of tourist-guides and food service providers.

meghnamaiti

@mydigitalfc.com