Strong start for Goa’s VOA scheme
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Immigration authorities at Goa‘s Dabolim Airport issued 357 visas on arrival (VOA) in the first 10 days of India’s new broadened entry scheme.
India expanded its VOA scheme on 27 November 2014 to include tourists from 43 countries arriving at nine of the country’s airports, including Goa. Authorities at Dabolim Airport started issuing VOAs on 4 December, and Goa’s tourism authorities reported a strong start to the scheme.
Russian and Ukrainian tourists topped the list of VOAs at Goa in the initial 10-day period, accounting for 154 and 183 visas respectively – a combined 94% of the total. Tourists from Germany (7), Jordan (3), the US (4), Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, Israel and the Philippines (one each) also used the scheme.
“It facility for providing visas on arrival has just begun and we are confident that it will pick up during the peak season,” said Goa’s Director of Tourism, Ameya Abhyankar.
As well as Goa, India’s new VOA scheme is available at Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Chennai, Bengaluru, Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram airports.
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