Visa-on-Arrival facility is a boost for Kerala Tourism, says Chief Minister

TechnoparkToday.com>>  Aug 28: The introduction of Tourist Visa-on-Arrival (T-VoA) facility at Thiruvananthapuram and Kochi airports marks a new chapter for Kerala Tourism and will help attract more foreign visitors to the state, Hon’ble Chief Minister Shri. Oommen Chandy said today.  The Chief Minister, accompanied by Hon’ble Minister for Tourism Shri A P Anil Kumar, Hon’ble Minister for Health Shri V S Sivakumar and senior officials, reviewed arrangements at the special T-VoA counter which became operational on August 15 at the Thiruvananthapuram International Airport.

A roughly 250 sq ft holding area has been set aside in the Immigration section and the exclusive visa desks are manned by Intelligence Bureau officials. Special enclosures have been built for photographing visitors, and displays, signages and foreign exchange counters have been set up at the facility.  Thiruvananthapuram and Kochi airports are among only eight in the country to offer T-VoA. It was rolled out in the first phase in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai. Two other airports that got T-VoA facility in the second phase are Bangalore and Hyderabad. Kerala is also the only state to have two airports offering the service.

T-VoA is currently available for citizens of 11 countries –Japan, Singapore, Finland, Luxembourg, New Zealand, the Philippines, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Myanmar and Indonesia. These countries are markets where Kerala Tourism sees vast potential and is beginning to make significant inroads. For instance the tourist arrivals from Japan rose by around 56% in five years to 11,440 in 2012; and the arrivals from Finland more than doubled over the period to 5,160 last year. Tourist arrivals from countries such as New Zealand, Singapore and The Philippines have similarly risen between 75% and 90% since 2008.  “The VoA facility has been a long-standing demand from Kerala Tourism and now that we have got it, we intend to take full advantage of it,” said Shri A P Anil Kumar. “We are especially thankful to the central government and union ministers from Kerala, including Shri Mullapally Ramachandran and Shri K C Venugopal, for bringing this service here.”

He said the service, although limited to 11 countries now, has opened up new avenues for Kerala Tourism. “The Department of Tourism will take the campaign to these countries, we will take part in travel fairs and take our roadshows there to tell people there how convenient visiting Kerala is.”

The Minister informed that Kerala Tourism will take part, for the first time, in one of Asia’s biggest tourism events – the JATA Travel Showcase 2013 in Tokyo from September 12-15. And in January 2014, it will travel to Helsinki, Finland, for the MATKA Nordic Travel Fair targeting the northern European markets.  “We believe the T-VoA scheme will help Kerala Tourism achieve its target of 30 lakh foreign tourist arrivals by 2021,” he said.  Kerala recorded 7,89,698 foreign tourist arrivals in 2012 the foreign exchange earnings tourched Rs 4,548 crores.

Shri V S Sivakumar said plans are underway to create a Mobility Hub centered on the Thiruvananthapuram Airport. This will be a one-stop facility for visitors to access all transport services – air, road, rail and waterways. A high-level committee is due to meet in the first week of September to discuss the Mobility Hub scheme and also a proposal to set up an airport-linked industrial base consisting of small and medium enterprises manufacturing aircraft/aviation components.

The Chief Minister said plans for the next phases of expansion of the Thiruvananthapuram airport are also progressing well.  Senior officials who visited the VoA facility today include Shri Suman Billa, Secretary, Kerala Tourism; Shri S Harikishore, Director, Kerala Tourism and Shri V N Chandran, Director, Thiruvananthapuram Airport.

T-VoA allows tourists from the 11 nations to request for a visa upon their arrival at either of the two airports. The fee is 60 US dollars and the visa is valid for up to 30 days. It will be issued only twice in one calendar year and to visitors who come to India for recreation, sightseeing and meeting friends or relatives.  Those applying for the visa should not have residence or occupation in India and should hold a passport with a minimum validity of six months. They should need to produce proof of confirmed hotel booking and return tickets when applying for the T-VoA.

The decision to introduce Visa on Arrival service at select airports in the country, including Thiruvananthapuram and Kochi, was taken at the third meeting of the Inter-ministerial Committee on Tourism. The Union Ministry of Home Affairs gave its approval for the project and the Bureau of Immigration issued guidelines for the infrastructure facilities to be put in place.