New peaks to climb, new destinations, reduced visa fee
New Delhi: Reducing e-visa fee, opening up Himalayan peaks, signages in foreign languages, illuminating ASI sites at night and promoting India’s culture abroad, the tourism ministry went all out this year to ensure it achieves its target of increasing global tourist arrivals to around 20 million by 2020.
Touted as the big ticket offering for those seeking adventure on high altitudes, the government opened for foreigners 137 Himalayan peaks, including the mighty Kanchenjunga located at a height of 8,589 m, for mountaineering expeditions and trekking.
The list of peaks include Dunagiri (7,066 m) and Hardeol (7,151 m) in Uttarakhand; Kabru South and North in Sikkim, both of which are at a height of over 7,000 m; Mount Kailash (6400 m) in Jammu and Kashmir; and Mulkila (6,571 m) in Himachal Pradesh.
At present, foreigners have to seek permission from the ministries of defence and home to climb these peaks. With the government opening them up, foreigners can now directly apply to the Indian Mountaineering Foundation for permits.
Tourism Minister Prahlad Patel, who had pushed for the move, labelled it as a historic step that will give a big boost to tourism.
“The aim is to ensure that more and more tourists visit the country. In order to do that we need to give them a range of experiences and also cater to all kinds of tourists. This is the reason why we are now illuminating ASI monuments and keeping them open at night, displaying signages in foreign languages, ensuring infrastructure around monuments, building amenities.
The goal is to draw as many tourists as possible,” Patel told PTI. The government has introduced a new five-year e-tourist visa with USD 80 fee and a one year e-tourist visa with USD 40 fee and is also offering the option of a short-term as well as long-term tourist e-visa.
Agreeing to a proposal of the Tourism Ministry a short duration e-visa for tourists with one month validity at a charge of USD 25 has been introduced. However, this will be applicable during peak tourism season between July and March. To attract more tourists during the lean period, the visa fee is proposed to be reduced to as low as USD 10 between April and June.
Growth in foreign tourist arrivals was muted in the first two quarters of 2019. Their numbers during January to July were 60,84,353, compared to 59,57,816 a year earlier, a marginal growth of 2.1 per cent, according to data released by the tourism ministry.
India is revamping its tourism strategy in China, including opening of a full-fledged regional tourist office headed by a top bureaucrat, as it pitches for attracting a good chunk of the country’s tourists. (PTI)