For $60, avail Visa-on-Arrival scheme

With the aim of attracting more tourists during the Commonwealth Games, government has decided to charge a fee of $ 60 per person for the grant of Visa-on-Arrival scheme.

The scheme has been extended to five countries, Finland, Japan, Luxembourg, New Zealand and Singapore, on a pilot basis for a year beginning January.

"Though we have sought more countries to be included in the scheme, these five countries are being granted the Visa-on-Arrival facility as a pilot project. Depending upon the response, more countries are likely to be included later on," a senior official of the Tourism Ministry said.

While 92,908 Singaporeans visited India in 2007, the number increased to 1,00,351 in 2008. From New Zealand 30,266 tourists came in 2008 against 27,498 in 2007.

Arrivals from Japan also registered a growth in the last two years. India received 1,50,732 Japanese tourists in 2008 against 1,45,538 in the previous year.

However, the arrival from Finland saw a decline in 2008. While 34,364 visited the country in 2007, the number decreased to 30,889 in 2008. "We expect a good response during the Commonwealth Games here in October as a large number of visitors are expected to come from these countries, specifically from Singapore and New Zealand, which are Commonwealth countries," the official said.

Tourists from these countries can avail the scheme for a maximum of 30 days with single entry facility by the Immigration Office at Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata airports, as per the Visa-on-Arrival guidelines finalised by the government.

Tourists shall be allowed entry for a maximum of two times in a calendar year with a minimum gap of two months between each visit under the scheme.

The Tourism Ministry has launched the Visit India Year 2009 scheme in overseas markets with effect from April 2009 till March 2010 whereby attractive incentives are being offered by airlines, hotels, and tour operators to tourists.

The year 2009 was not good for the sector as arrival was affected due to several reasons including the Mumbai terror attack, swine flu and travel advisories issued by many countries during this period.

We have undertaken a series of promotional overseas campaign specially in the Commonwealth countries and we are hopeful that foreign tourist arrivals will gain momentum in the coming months and also during the Games in Delhi, the official added.