India’s e-Tourist visa is gaining popularity according to the latest data released by the Ministry of Tourism that showed a 73.3% pick up in visas issued in July when compared with July 2016.
Overall tourist arrivals to India increased 7.4% in July from 734,000 in July 2016 to 788,00 visitors this year.
e-Tourist Visas
During July, 119,000 tourists entered the country on e-Tourist visas when compared to 68,000 during the month of July 2016 representing a growth of 73.3%.
Foreign tourist arrivals, January to July, this year, numbered 5,670,000 representing a healthy 15.7% improvement, when compared with 4,903,000 in January to July 2016.
Of the top 15 source markets, Bangladesh represented 20.12% of all visitor arrivals to India.
Other top markets were: USA (16.26%); UK (10.88%); France (3.01%); Malaysia (2.81%); Canada (2.66%); Sri Lanka (2.56%); China (2.32%); Oman (2.27%); Germany (2.21%); Australia (2.17%); Japan (2.10%); Nepal (1.84%); UAE (1.82%) and Singapore (1.69%).
The percentage market share of foreign tourist arrivals in India during July at 15 ports of entry was highest at Delhi Airport (25.95%) followed by Mumbai Airport (16.63%), Haridaspur land checkpoint (10.92%), Chennai Airport (9.09%), Bengaluru Airport (6.78%), Cochin Airport (5.39%), Hyderabad Airport (5.07%),Kolkata Airport (4.23%),Gede Rail Land checkpoint (2.78%), Trivandrum Airport (1.81%), Ahmedabad Airport (1.72%), Ghojadanga Land Check Post (1.54%), Tiruchirapalli Airport (1.37%), Amritsar Airport (0.97%) and Calicut Airport (0.73%).