Kiwis and Japanese dominate VoA issuance
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With the VoA system up and running, New Zealanders and Japanese tourists are proving to be the biggest takers, while only a very slight fraction of visitors are coming from Southeast Asia. As a facilitative measure to attract more foreign tourists to India, the government launched a Visa on Arrival (VoA) Scheme in January 2010 for tourists from five countries; Finland, Japan, Luxembourg, New Zealand and Singapore. The scheme was extended to six more countries in January this year, namely Cambodia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Philippines, Laos and Myanmar. In the first quarter of calendar year 2011, a total of 2,905 VoAs were issued to patriots of the 11 aforementioned nations. The number of VoAs issued under the scheme January-March 2011 were as follows; New Zealand (705), Japan (583), Singapore (431), Finland (411), Philippines (392), Indonesia (296), Cambodia (42), Vietnam (19), Luxemburg (14), Myanmar (11), and Laos (1). Government figures show that Delhi remains the primary entry point for tourists wanting VoAs. During the first three months of the year, the number of VoAs issued at Delhi airport hit 1,512, followed by Mumbai (759), Chennai (474) and Kolkata (160).
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