India posts 25 percent increase in visas on arrival

New Delhi, Sep 11 — A total of 9,412 visas on arrival (VoAs) were issued till August compared to 7,514 during corresponding period of 2011, registering a growth of 25.3 percent, an official said Tuesday.

According to the tourism ministry, 1,750 VoAs were issued in August compared to 920 during August 2011, registering a growth of 90.2 percent.

As a facilitative measure to attract more foreign tourists to India, the union government launched the VoAs scheme in January 2010 for citizens of five countries - Finland, Japan, Luxembourg, New Zealand and Singapore - visiting India for tourism purposes.

This scheme was extended for the citizens of six more countries - Cambodia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Philippines, Laos and Myanmar - in January 2011.

Sourced: india.nydailynews