Indian visa regime simplification will give a boost to development of Russian tourism
As we already reported, from
October this year Russian tourists might be receiving Indian visa directly at
the airports of the largest cities of the country – Deli, Mumbai, Chennai, and
Operators working with this
destination reported to RATA-news that for now there is no official
notification on it neither from Indian partners, nor from the Indian Consulate
in
Manager of the South-East Asia
Department of Astravel Company, Lilya Ilyukhina, believes that receiving visa
at the airport will redistribute the clients in favor of independent traveling:
“Less people will go to specialists when organizing their vacation. Already now
everything can be booked via internet, and if the visa regime is simplified, I
think, the general tourist flow will increase, but that via travel agents will
go down”. According to her, Indian visa application is not a difficult
procedure now, but it requires at least five business days. The company notes
the increase in demand for travelling about
The Commercial Director of the
South Cross Company, Eugeniy Kosinkov forecasts the increase in sightseeing
tourism and theme tours to India: “We’re more interested to work with higher
budget excursion destinations as, for example, Kerala”. He is sure that for
more complicated tours client will go to the travel agency anyway and those who
prefer to travel around the country on their own or to sunbathe at
According to the manager of
South Asia Department of Quinta Tour Company, Stanislav Dikov, the claims on
the simplification of visa regime from Indian side should be taken with
caution, as the Indian side has already made such statements and moreover, was
constantly changing the conditions of document submission and terms of tourist
staying in the country. Yet if there is a relaxation of the visa regime, the
expert deems, it will lead to the growth of the Russians' interest towards
excursion tours to
The last high season in