More than 2 Lakh Tourists arrived on e-Tourist Visa during Jan-Sept 2015 showing an increase of 945.6%

More than 2 Lakh Tourists arrived on e-Tourist Visa during Jan-Sept 2015 showing an increase of 945.6% over the same period last year

Highest number of tourists arrived on e-Tourist Visa from USA during Jan-Sept 2015 

Government of India launched Tourist Visa on Arrival (TVoA) enabled by Electronic Travel Authorization (ETA), presently known as e-Tourist Visa scheme on 27^th November 2014. At present e-Tourist Visa facility is available for citizens of 113 countries arriving at 16 Airports in India.

The following are the important highlights of e-Tourist Visa during September, 2015:

(i)                 During the month of September, 2015 a total of 31,729 tourist arrived on e-Tourist Visa as compared to 2,170 during the month of September, 2014 registering a growth of 1362.2%.

(ii)               During January- September, 2015 a total of 2,01,705 tourist arrived on e-Tourist Visa as compared to 19,290 during January- September, 2014 registering a growth of  945.6% .

(iii)        This high growth may be attributed to introduction of e-Tourist Visa for 113 countries as against coverage of earlier TVoA scheme for 12 countries.

(iv)        The percentage shares of  top 10 source countries availing e-Tourist Visa facility  during  September,  2015 were as follows:

USA (18.71%), UK (9.24%), Australia (8.50%), Germany (7.22%), China (6.36%), France (5.22%), Canada (4.54%), Israel (3.61%), Japan (2.83%), and Mexico (2.66%).

(v)          The percentage shares of different ports in tourist arrivals on e-Tourist Visa during  September, 2015 were as follows:

New Delhi Airport (50.69%), Mumbai Airport (20.70%), Bengaluru Airport (7.44%), Chennai Airport (7.18%), Kochi Airport (3.53%), Kolkata Airport (2.93%), Hyderabad Airport (2.74%), Goa Airport (1.71%), Trivandrum Airport (1.30%), Ahmedabad Airport (0.72%), Amritsar Airport (0.43%), Tiruchinapalli Airport (0.33%), Jaipur Airport (0.27%), Varanasi Airport (0.01%) and Gaya Airport ( 0.01%).

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Foreign Tourist Arrivals (FTAs) register a growth of 6.1 % in September 2015 over the same period in 2014

Bangladesh accounts for the highest share of FTAs in September 2015

Rs. 9,512 Crore Foreign Exchange earned through Tourism during September 2015 

Ministry of Tourism compiles monthly estimates of Foreign Tourist Arrivals (FTAs) on the basis of Nationality-wise, Port-wise data received from Bureau of Immigration (BOI) and Foreign Exchange Earnings (FEEs) from tourism on the basis of data available from Reserve Bank of India. Following are the important highlights regarding FTAs and FEEs from tourism during the month of September2015:

Foreign Tourist Arrivals (FTAs)

·           FTAs during the Month of September2015 were 5.40 lakh as compared to FTAs of 5.09 lakh during the month of September2014 and 4.54 lakh in September2013. There has been a growth of 6.1% in September2015 over September2014. 

·           FTAs during the period January- September 2015 were 56.08 lakh showing a growth of 4.6% over January- September 2014

·           The Percentage share of Foreign Tourist Arrivals (FTAs) in India during September  2015 among the top 15 source countries was highest from Bangladesh (18.81%), followed by USA (10.99%), UK (7.96%), Malaysia (4.72%), Sri Lanka (4.69%), Australia (3.39%), China (3.37%), Japan (3.20%), Germany (2.89), Canada (2.51%), Nepal (2.44%), France (2.39%),Singapore (2.13%), Pakistan (1.61%) and Afghanistan (1.27%). These top 15 countries account for 72.37% of total FTAs during September 2015.

·           The Percentage share of  Foreign Tourist Arrivals (FTAs) in India during September2015 among the top 15 ports was highest at Delhi Airport (30.08%) followed by Mumbai Airport (17.21%), Haridaspur Land check post (10.57%), Chennai Airport

·           (8.91%), Bengaluru Airport (6.57%), Kolkata Airport (4.02%), Cochin Airport (3.23%), Hyderabad Airport (3.03%),Gede Rail (2.02%), Tiruchirapalli (1.94%), Trivendrum Airport (1.55%),  Ahmedabad Airport (1.35%),Ghojadanga Land check post (1.26%), AttariWagha Land check post (1.05%) and Amritsar Airport (0.75%). These top 15 ports account for 93.54% of total FTAs during September 2015.

Foreign Exchange Earnings (FEEs) from Tourism in India in rupee terms and in US$ terms

·         FEEs during the month of September 2015 were Rs9,512 crore as compared to Rs9,057crore in September 2014 .

·         The growth rate in FEEs in rupee terms during September 2015 over September  2014 was growth of 5.0% .

·         FEEs from tourism in rupee terms in January- September 2015 were Rs91,737 crore showing a growth of 3.2% over the same period during2014 .

·         FEEs in US$ terms during the month of September 2015 were US$ 1.436 billion

·         FEEs from tourism in US$ terms during January- September 2015 were US$ 14.453 billion