UK, US, China top list availing e-tourist visas

Chennai: The nationals from the UK, USA and China top the list of foreigners preferring India as their destination and are among the increasing number of foreign tourists availing e-tourist visas during August.

Chennai has contributed to about 8.82 per cent at the national level in providing e-tourist visas in August this year.

According to sources, the increasing industrial activity and also the corporate hospitals have been driving the bulk of MICE and wellness tourism here.

A total of 66,097 tourists had arrived in August 2016 on e-tourist visa as against 22, 286 during the corresponding month last year, thus registering a growth of 196.6 per cent.

Upto August end, this year, a total of 6,06,493 tourists availed e-tourist visa compared to only 1,69,976 during January-August 2015, registering a growth of 256.8 per cent.

According to the Union tourism ministry, this high growth might be attributed to the extension of the e-tourist visa facility totally to 150 countries as against the earlier coverage of 113 countries.

The percentage shares of top 10 source countries availing e-tourist visa facilities during August, this year are: UK: 19.4%, USA:13.2%, China: 6.7%, France: 6.4%, Spain: 6.1%, UAE: 5.5%, Germany: 4.6%, Australia: 3.7%, Canada: 3.5% and Korea: 2.4%.