Centre announces free tourist visa to 5 lakh tourists
The tourism sector has been impacted badly during the Covid-19 pandemic. Meanwhile, the Government announced that it will issue free tourist visas for 5 lakh tourists. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced the decision while addressing a press conference, she said that a slew of measures to provide the much-needed relief to the travel industry has been shattered by the second wave. The Ministry of Finance revealed that 10.93 million foreign tourists visited Indian in 2019, and spend $ 30.098 billion on leisure and business.
According to the statement, Nirmala Sitharaman said that ``The average daily stay for a foreign tourist in India is 21 days while the average daily spending is around $34 (?2400) "Once visa issuance is restarted, the first 5 lakh tourists will be issued free of charge" adding that she said that this benefit will only be given to one tourist at a time and the scheme will remain applicable till March 2020 or till 5 lakh visas are issued. The total financial implication is expected to be Rs100 crore.
The Ministry also stated that the Centre has further announced financial support to over 11,000 registered tourists guides/ travel and tourism stakeholders. Working capital /personal loans will be provided with 100% guarantee to people in the tourism sector." No processing charges, waiver of payment charges."
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