Foreign Tourist Arrival on E-Tourist Visa Grow 116.9% in India

The ministry of Indian tourism has received 116.9 percent growth in terms of a number of global travelers who entered India during this festive season of September 2016, which was more than double when compared to last year. 

The top slot of the travelers was recorded from the United Kingdom, followed by the USA and the Republic of China who have visited India during September 2016 as per the records were given by the Ministry of Tourism. 

As per the statistics, a total 31729 visitors on e-tourist visa have entered India, last year in September 2015, this year the numbers were recorded at 68809 foreign tourists traveled India on an e-tourist visa. 

The Union Tourism Ministry stated that the facility of e-tourist visa is made available for the citizens of 150 countries to visit India by the Central government. The record of foreign visitors to India arriving at 16 International Airports of India  recorded a substantial growth this year when compared to last year. 

As per the records issued by the Ministry of Tourism, a total of 201,705 tourists arrived in India between January to September 2015, whereas January to September 2016 recorded a total of 675,302 tourists who arrived in India on an e-tourist visa recording a growth of 234.8 percent when compared to the last year. This might have been a result of the introduction of e-visa to 150 countries when compared to 113 countries last year by central government. 

The tourists from the top 10 countries availing e-tourist visa during September 2016 were from the UK at 15.5 percent, the USA at 12.4 percent, China at 9 percent, Australia at 6 percent, Germany at 4.8 percent, France at 4.3 percent, Spain at 3.6 percent, Canada at 3.1 percent, UAE at 2.6 percent and Malaysia at 2.6 percent. The top 10 international airports who received foreign tourists on e-tourist visa during September 2016 were the New Delhi Airport with 51.71 percent, Mumbai Airport with 21.06 percent, Bengaluru Airport with 6.44 percent, Chennai Airport with 6.27 percent, Kochi Airport with 3.5 percent, Hyderabad with 2.45 percent, Kolkata Airport with 2.34 percent, Trivandrum Airport with 1.35 percent, Amritsar Airport with 1.18 percent followed by Dabolim-Goa Airport with 1.11 percent foreign tourist arrivals.