British tourists are proving to be early adopters of the new “e-visa” scheme which has simplified travel to India since it was broadened to include UK nationals in the summer.
Figures released by the Ministry of Tourism in New Delhi show that Britons made up nearly a quarter of all visitors to India who arrived using the electronic system last month.
Of the 83,501 foreign travellers who landed at Indian airports last month having applied for their visas online, 24 per cent were British – by far the biggest proportion of the full number, with Americans in second place (16 per cent) and Russians in third (eight per cent).
India has long been a popular destination for British holidaymakers – Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) figures show that 800,000 of us head to the world’s second most populous country every year.
And the new e-visa seems to have been embraced. Certainly, it has reduced the time and expense required in securing official permission to travel to the sub-continent.
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The “E-Tourist Visa Scheme” was launched on a limited basis in November 2014, but was widened to encompass 113 countries – including the UK – in August.
It allows travellers to apply for a visa remotely via an Indian government website – with the whole procedure taking around four days.
Previously, would-be visitors had to book an appointment and present relevant documents at visa processing centres – a bureaucratic slog which could take two weeks.
The cost of an Indian visa for British passport holders has also been reduced – from £89 under the old system to US$60 (£40) under the new.
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India is claiming this cutting away of red tape as a remarkable success, announcing a surge in e-visa applications of 2713 per cent when figures for last month are compared to November 2014.
However, this giant leap can largely be attributed to August’s expansion of the scheme to include nations as regionally diverse as Australia, Mexico and Vietnam.
Mumbai is the second most popular arrival point for e-visa travellers
The figures also reveal that it is India’s most feted attractions that still hold the most allure.
E-visa travellers to India are required to arrive at one of 16 designated airports.
The statistics show that New Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport – a gateway to the capital, the timeless mausoleum of the Taj Mahal in Agra, and the spectacular spaces of Rajasthan – was by far the most popular point of ingress last month, with 45 per cent of all e-visa tourists landing here.
Mumbai – arguably India’s most cosmopolitan city, and the heartland of the Bollywood film industry – accounted for 18 per cent of all arrivals.
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Goa International Airport welcomed 15 per cent of all e-visa incomers – the majority heading for the soft sands of India’s most fabled beach destination.
The e-visa scheme was hailed by tour operators as a breakthrough for tourism in India when the UK was added to its roster in August.
Sue Livsey of sub-continent specialists Cox & Kings said that it was, “great news for anyone planning to visit India,” while Mehra Dalton of Greaves India commented that “India will become more accessible and affordable, allowing travellers more flexibility than ever before.”
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