FROM October, SA
travellers will be able
to get a visa-on-arrival
(VOA) when travelling
to India. In a move to
boost tourism, the Indian
government decided to relax
the country’s visa norms,
allowing nationals from 180
countries, including South
Africa, to obtain a VOA when
travelling to India.
Vikas Rustagi, regional
director for West Asia and
Africa for India Tourism, told
TNW that the VOA scheme
was a much-awaited facility
that would denitely lead
to more South Africans
travelling to India. He
added that South Africa
was currently the largest
African tourism market for
India with more than
50 000 South African
nationals visiting in 2012.
Although the South
African travel industry
has welcomed the visa
relaxation, travel agents
have also expressed
concerns that the long
queues on arrival at Indian
immigration will only be
aggravated by the new
visa regulations. Vikas
admitted that this was a
concern that needed to be
addressed. He said the
Indian government would
deal with this problem in
the near future.
Another concern raised
by the South African travel
industry is the fact that
most visitors to India are
business travellers. The
VOA will only be a singleentry
visa that is valid for
30 days from the date of
the tourist’s arrival in India.
“Business travellers will
probably still opt to obtain
their visa in South Africa
prior to their trip,” says
Shivani Chetty of One
Stop Travel and Tours in
Durban.
