ALAPPUZHA: The facility of Tourist Visa on Arrival (T-VoA) introduced in Thiruvananthapuram airport on August 15, 2013 and later in Kochi has not made much impact on the tourism scenario in the state. The other airports in the country, however, have witnessed 347 percent growth in tourist arrivals this year over the same period in 2015 using the same facility. According to the data published by the Union Tourism Ministry, a total of 1,15,677 tourists arrived on T-VoA compared to 25,851 in the same period last year after the facility was extended to tourists from 150 countries against the earlier 43.
However, very few foreigners visit Kerala on T-VoA facility with Thiruvananthapuram airport securing just 1.33 percent share. The New Delhi international airport has topped the list fetching 46.76 percent, Mumbai 18.75 percent, Goa 11.11, Chennai 5.55, Bengaluru 5.03, Kochi 2.82, Kolkata 2.38, Amritsar 2.12, and Hyderabad 2.07. The facility was mostly used by the citizens of United Kingdom (27.74 percent), followed by USA (13.41 percent), Russia (7.04), France (6.55), Germany (5.18), China (4.49), Canada (3.89), Australia (3.79), Spain (1.99) and Ukraine (1.66).
As per the Kerala Tourism data, foreign tourist arrivals to Kerala last year were 9, 77, 479, an increase of 5.8 percent over the previous year’s figure of 9, 23, 366. Most of the tourists visit Kerala as part of package tour. “For most foreigners, Kerala is one of several spots in their itinerary in the country. So they land in major airports and reach Kerala through road or train. However, there would be increase in the number of tourists coming on T-VoA facility in the coming years,” tourism officials say. Mr Tomi Pulikattil, a houseboat operator here, said the state tourism should bring back the chartered flights which have been suspended in the state since 2013.
