Tourist Visa on Arrival (TVoA) enabled by Electronic Travel Authorization (ETA)

ETA enabled TVoA grow by 1220% in March 2015 over March 2014

USA accounts for highest percentage of ETA enabled TVoA in March 2015

Government of India launched Tourist Visa on Arrival (TVoA) enabled by Electronic Travel Authorization (ETA) on 27th November 2014 for 43 countries. The Government extended this Scheme to the citizens of Guyana in January, 2015. The following are the important highlights of tourists arrived by ETA enabled TVoA during March, 2015:

(i) During the month of March 2015, a total of 25,851 tourist arrived by ETA enabled TVoA as compared to 1,958 TVoA during the month of March 2014, registering a growth of 1220.3%.

(ii) During January- March 2015, a total of 75,859 tourist arrived by ETA enabled TVoA as compared to 5,841 TVoA during January- March 2014, registering a growth of 1198.7%.

(iii) This high growth may be attributed to introduction of ETA enabled TVoA for 44 countries as against coverage of earlier TVoA scheme for 12 countries only.

(iv) The percentage share of top 10 source countries for ETA enabled TVoA, in India during March 2015, were as follows: USA (33.25%), Germany (14.64%), Russian Federation (13.13%), Australia (8.37%), Republic of Korea (6.39%), Ukraine (4.21%), Mexico (2.93%), Japan (1.99%), New Zealand (1.91%) and Israel (1.68%) .

(v) The percentage shares of different ports for ETA enabled TVoA, in India during March 2015, were as follows:

New Delhi (47.32%), Mumbai (18.55%), Goa (12.03%), Bengaluru (6.27%), Chennai (5.60%), Hyderabad (2.93%), Kolkata (2.78%), Kochi (2.68%) and Trivandrum (1.84%).

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FEEs in US$ terms increase by 0.7% in March 2015 over March 2014 as compared to a decline of 5.3% in 2014 over March 2013

FTAs show an increase of 5.3% in March 2015 over March 2014

Ministry of Tourism compiles monthly estimates of Foreign Tourist Arrivals (FTAs) on the basis of Nationality-wise, Port-wise data received from Bureau of Immigration (BOI) and Foreign Exchange Earnings (FEEs) from tourism on the basis of data available from Reserve Bank of India. The following are the important highlights regarding FTAs and FEEs from tourism during the month of March 2015.

Foreign Tourist Arrivals (FTAs):

FTAs during the Month of March 2015 were 7.30 lakh as compared to FTAs of 6.93 lakh during the month of March 2014 and 6.40 lakh in March 2013. There has been a growth of 5.3% in March 2015 over March 2014.

· FTAs during the period January- March 2015 were 22.81 lakh with a growth of 3.2%, as compared to the FTAs of 22.10 lakh with a growth of 7.9% in January- March 2014 over January- March 2013.

· The Percentage share of Foreign Tourist Arrivals (FTAs) in India during March 2015 among the top 15 source countries was highest from UK (12.52%) followed by USA (12.35%), Bangladesh (12.28%), Sri Lanka (4.40%), Germany (4.28%), Canada (3.39%), Malaysia (3.26%), France (3.24%), Japan (2.71%), Australia (2.67%), Thailand (2.67%), China (2.55%), Russian Fed. (2.31%), Singapore (1.70%) and Afghanistan (1.58%). These top 15 countries accounts for 71.91% of total FTAs during March 2015.

· The Percentage share of Foreign Tourist Arrivals (FTAs) in India during March 2015 among the top 15 ports was highest at Delhi Airport (32.4%) followed by Mumbai Airport (16.7%), Chennai Airport (7.8%), Haridaspur Land check post (6.7%), Bengaluru Airport (5.6%), Cochin Airport (4.0%), Kolkata Airport (3.8%),Goa Airport (3.3%), Sonauli Land Check post (3.2%),Hyderabad Airport (2.6%), Amritsar Airport (1.7%), Trivandrum Airport (1.5%),Ahmedabad Airport (1.4%),Gede Rail (1.4%) and Tiruchirapalli Airport (1.2%). These top 15 ports accounts for 93.3% of total FTAs during March 2015.

Foreign Exchange Earnings (FEEs) from Tourism in India in rupee terms and in US$ terms

FEEs during the month of March 2015 were Rs.10,451 crore as compared to Rs.10,152 crore in March 2014 and Rs. 9,545 crore in March 2013.

The growth rate in FEEs in rupee terms during March 2015 over March 2014 was 2.9%.
FEEs from tourism in rupee terms in January- March 2015 were Rs. 33,036 crore with a growth of 1.7% as compared to the FEE of Rs. 32,473 during January- March 2014.

FEEs in US$ terms during the month of March 2015 were US$ 1.674 billion as compared to FEEs of US$ 1.662 billion during the month of March 2014.
The growth rate in FEEs in US$ terms in March 2015 over March 2014 was 0.7% compared to a decline of 5.3% in March 2014 over March 2013.
FEEs from tourism in US$ terms during January- March 2015 were US$ 5.310 billion with a growth of 1.1% as compared to the US$ 5.253 billion with a decline of 6.9% during January- March 2014 over January- March 2013.