IATO expresses its sincere gratitude to the Government of India for restoring Tourist/e-Tourist Visa for foreign tourists with immediate effect.
According to Rajiv Mehra, President, Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO), “This decision is a big relief for the entire travel and tourism fraternity and we hope that it will create confidence amongst the foreign tourist that India is now safe to travel and they can visit India without any hassles. We also hail restoration of all types of visas which includes 5 years visas for all eligible countries and 10 years long visas for USA and Japan”.
While IATO wholly welcomes the announcement made by the government, it also urges the government to restore E-Tourist Visa from the countries such as the UK and Canada as a high number of tourists visit India from these countries.
In order to boost foreign tourist arrivals, IATO also requests the Government to extend the validity of free Tourist Visa till 31st March 2024 without capping of 5 lakh free tourist visas and also allow entry of foreign tourists through land borders of Nepal and Bhutan for the revival of Buddhist Tourism. This is also required as there are very limited flights to Bhutan.
