Thaindian News

New Delhi, Jan 31 (IANS) Over 12,000 visitors from 11 countries used the tourist visa on arrival facility in 2011, with the maximum numbers coming from New Zealand, Japan and Indonesia, the tourism ministry said Tuesday.

“During 2011, a total number of 12,761 Visa on Arrivals were issued,” according to a statement issued here.

In 2010, over 6,500 foreigners used the scheme to visit India.

Last year, the highest number of visas were issued to citizens of New Zealand (2,762), followed by Japan (2,344), Indonesia (2,063), the Philippines (1,956), Singapore (1,848), Finland (1,335).

Other country nations who availed the facility were Cambodia (149), Vietnam (145), Myanmar (71), Luxembourg (74) and Laos (14).

Officials said in December last year, a total of 1,640 visas on arrival were offered to foreign tourists, while the number was 1,382 in November.

The highest number of visas on arrival in December were issued to New Zealand citizens (473), Japan (265), Indonesia (247), the Philippines (173), Singapore (194), Finland (246), Cambodia (7), Vietnam (18), Luxembourg (8) Laos (10) and Myanmar (9).

According to the tourism ministry, during the year the maximum number of visas were issued at Delhi airport. As many as 7,340 visas were issued at the Delhi airport, followed by Mumbai (2,816), Chennai (1,948) and Kolkata (657).

The scheme was first introduced Jan 1, 2010 for citizens of Finland, Japan, Luxembourg, New Zealand and Singapore. Following a good response, the government extended it to six more countries — Cambodia, Indonesia, Vietnam, the Philippines, Laos and Myanmar — from January 2011.

India introduced the scheme in its bid to promote tourism and facilitate the visits of foreigners who plan their visits at a short notice.