Number of tourists arriving in India has increased by several times as compared to previous year after the launch of Visa on Arrival (VoA) enabled Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) scheme for 43 countries.
A total of 25,023 tourists arrived in India in January this year using the VoA enabled ETA scheme as against 1903 in the same month last year, registering a growth of 1214.9 per cent growth, according to Tourism Ministry data.
Government extended the VoA enabled ETA facility for 43 countries in November 2014. Prior to it, the VoA scheme was in operation for 12 countries only.
While maximum tourists came from the US (23.71 per cent), followed by Republic of Korea (18.26 per cent), Russian Federation (14.06 per cent), Ukraine (9.99 per cent), Australia (8.83 per cent) and Germany (6.53 per cent).
The facility is operational at nine international airports including all four metropolis and Kochi, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Trivandrum and Goa.
Published 25 February 2015, 16:29 IST