Visa cheer for visitors

SOUTH Africans can now spend two months in India on the hassle free online tourist visa.

Tour operators welcomed the extension for more than 160 countries, including South Africa, announced by Indian Home Minister Rajnath Singh this week.

Dinesh Naidoo, group operating director at Serendipity Tours in Musgrave, said this showed India’s commitment to growing its tourism industry.

In late 2014, they introduced the e-visa, an online application process with a turnaround time of 48 to 72 hours.

This allowed tourists to stay in India for a maximum of 30 days.

But, according to Naidoo, a lot of his clients stay for four to five weeks. “Taking the visa application process offline entails costs and logistics which can sometimes be frustrating.

“A multiple entry visa was the only way people could stay for longer, but now, they are going to use that time and money in India.

“It will definitely encourage people to visit India,” he said.

It had become easier to “sell” India as a prime destination over the years, Naidoo said.

“When people decide where to go on holiday they look at things like visa requirements. If a country is visa friendly with a South African passport, it’s an easier choice.

“Nobody wants to go through complicated, expensive applications.”

Naidoo said there had been a 10% growth in the leisure market from South Africa to India.

Johannesburg-based travel agent RC Naik said India was getting a lot of things right when it came to attracting tourist into their country.

“Every year, RC Naik’s Travel Services sends a couple of hundred people to India.

“That has a lot to do with how much easier they have made the process with clients literally getting their visas within 24 hours.

“South Africans like travelling and it’s not only South Africans of Indian descent we take to India; it’s across the board.

“Cumbersome administration puts people off, so this is an excellent strategy,” said Naik.

The extended e-visa is already operational.