India will provide 100,000 free visas to attract foreign tourists, Tourism Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhwat announced on Friday.
In addition to free visas, Prime Minister Shekhawat also announced the launch of a program to appoint locals as tourism ambassadors in 50 destinations. The government’s efforts to provide free visas and appoint tourism ambassadors (Paryatan Mitra and Paryatan Didi) are aimed at presenting India as a tourist-friendly year-round destination.
The announcement, made to coincide with World Tourism Day, comes against a backdrop of slower-than-expected growth in foreign tourists.
Arrivals to India increased by 9% year-on-year to 4.78 million in January-June 2024. However, it has decreased compared to 2019.
Impact of the pandemic
The government had provided 500,000 free visas in 2021 to support the tourism sector, which has been severely affected by the pandemic. Despite several initiatives and the restoration of air connectivity, the arrival of foreign tourists to India is slower than the global average. However, Shekhwat said he expected India to become the most desirable destination due to its infrastructure development, digitalization efforts and successful hosting of last year’s G20 summit.
The ministry piloted Paryatan Mitra and Paryatan Didi programs in six destinations before expanding. Taxi drivers, hotel staff, street vendors, students and others received hospitality training as part of the scheme.
The ministry also announced the Incredible India Content Hub, a repository of films, images, newsletters, etc., and signed an MOU with a hotel chain for student engagement and mentorship.
Unrest spreads through the industry
Travel industry stakeholders welcomed the ministry’s initiative. Aashish Gupta, CEO of the Federation of Indian Tourism and Hospitality Associations, said the visa-free move is driven by Indian tourism’s aggressive international brand marketing and the presence of tourism authorities in key source markets. He said it needed to be substantiated.
“We welcome this announcement and hope that it will meet the expectations of foreign tourists, who have so far not seen an increase.Additionally, we welcome this announcement in our source markets such as the UK, US, Canada, France and Italy. We also need to do promotional activities,” said Rajiv Mehra, president of the Indian Tour Operators Association.
