Kerala will soon become the fifth gateway to India for travellers from 11 countries who can get tourist visa-on-arrival (T-VoA). The international airport here will join the airports in Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata in issuing this visa.
Citizens of Finland, Japan, Luxembourg, New Zealand, Singapore, Cambodia, Vietnam, the Philippines, Laos, Myanmar and Indonesia can get T-VoA.
The Union Ministry of External Affairs has approved it for the citizens of France, Germany and Russia. Nod from the Bureau of Immigration (BOI), which functions under the Union Ministry of Home Affairs, is awaited.
The Union Ministry of Tourism plans to double the number of foreign tourists visiting the country in three or four years.
T-VoA is expected to give a boost to the flourishing tourism sector of Kerala. The State registered 7,32,985 foreign tourist arrivals in 2011, earning Rs. 4,221.99 crore in foreign exchange. The recently unveiled tourism policy of the State targets 30 lakh foreign tourist arrivals by 2021 as per a report in The Hindu.
Thiruvananthapuram figures along with Goa and Bangalore on the shortlist of the BOI for granting T-VoA. Since the AAI has informed the bureau that the facilities sought are in place, T-VoA is expected to be introduced soon, sources said.
The Airports Authority of India has informed the State government about the move to introduce the visa. The authority, which manages the airport, has informed the BOI that it is ready to allocate a facilitation centre, an exclusive visa desk, facilities for taking photographs of the visiting foreign nationals, a foreign exchange counter, a holding area, signboards and other infrastructure at the international terminal, official sources told.
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