India makes e-visas available to Saudi nationals; Kerala pin hopes on Saudi tourist inflow
Photo Courtesy: CNN
In an effort to ease travel and increase the number of Saudi visitors to the country, the Indian government has made e-visas available for Saudi nationals. All applicants will need are valid identification documents, like passports, and a debit or credit card with which to pay the e-visa fee.
E-visa application confirmations will be filed within a 24-hour period of submission, approval granted within 72 hours, and the visa will be valid for one year.
The e-visa will then be sent via email, and can be used digitally or printed. The e-visas are issued for a period of one year with multiple entries and each stay is valid up to 90 days
The move is expected to create a boom in the leisure and medical tourism sectors in Kerala. “For a country like Saudi Arabia, whose visa regulation was tough considering other countries, this move is going to give a much needed relief. The main destination for Saudi nationals were Turkey, which they are not preferring at present because of the current political scenario there and, Sri Lanka, another important destination for Saudi nationals, is also skipped because of the Easter bombings, the veil ban and the visa restrictions. The e-visa approval is hitting at the right time as Kerala can expect a good number of Saudi tourists visiting the state in the monsoons. A big inflow is expected in the next three months,” said Jihad Hussain, Managing Director, Gateway Malabar Holidays, who caters exclusively to the Gulf clientele.
The Wayanad Splash – the monsoon carnival, organised by Wayanad Tourism Organization (WTO), is bringing fifteen social media influencers from Saudi Arabia for the 2019 edition. “The social media influencer’s visit, sponsored by Kerala Tourism, is also going to give a fillip to tourism. Calicut and Wayanad have better road connectivity and proper infrastructure facilities compared to other popular destinations in the state. We are eyeing more on leisure tourism than medical tourism,” said Jihad.
With Saudi Airlines coming back to Calicut, increasing their frequecy to nine flights a week; the new service proposed by SpiceJet and the new Jeddah-Calicut flight by Air India, is surely going to help tap the Saudi market.
“The new e-visa facility for Saudi nationals let them easily travel to India for tourism, business and medical purposes. With the new system in place, the health and tourism sector in Kerala will get a major push,” said Anish Kumar P K, CEO of Travel Planners, who had submitted a memorandum on behalf of ATTOI couple of years back to the then Tourism Secretary Venu, projecting the need to ease Visa processes of Saudi nationals.
