Centre to issue first 5 lakh tourist visas for free once international travel resumes

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced on Monday that once Visa issuance is restarted, the first 5 lakh tourists visas will be issued for free. "Once international travel resumes, first 5 lakh tourists who come to India will not have to pay visa fees," said the finance minister.

This is being done by the government to revive the tourism sector, which has been devastated by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Sitharaman noted that one tourist will be able to avail this benefit only once. "Scheme applicable till March 31, 2022, or will be closed after distribution of first 5 lakh visas. One tourist can avail benefit only once," said Nirmala Sitharaman. According to Sitharaman, the total financial implication from this exercise would be around Rs 100 crore.

Apart from giving free of charge visas to tourists, Sitharaman also announced other measures to support the tourism sector. She stated the government will provide financial support to more than 11,000 registered travel guides/travel and tourism stakeholders (TTS).

"Under the new Loan Guarantee Scheme for COVID affected sectors, working capital/ personal loans will be provided to people in the tourism sector to discharge liabilities and restart businesses impacted due to the COVID-19 pandemic," noted the Finance Minister.

This scheme is expected to cover 10,700 regional level tourist guides that have been recognised by the Ministry of Tourism and Tourist Guides and tourist guides recognised by the state governments. Financial support will also be provided to 904 Travel and Tourism Stakeholders (TTS) that have been recognised by the Tourism Ministry.

Sitharaman explained that 10.93 million foreign tourists had visited India in 2019 and had spent $30.098 billion on leisure and business. The average daily stay for a foreign tourist in India is 21 days. The average daily spending of a tourist in India is around $34 (Approx, Rs 2,400).

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