India saw a major boost in tourism this December. Officials from India’s ministry of tourism have reported that tourist arrivals jumped a full 421% in December compared to the same month in 2013.
In total, India issued 14,083 visas to foreign travelers in December 2014. That marks a huge improvement from the 2,700 visas at the country issued in December 2013. When you take a look at the entire year, tourism to India was up 92.4% in 2014 compared to 2013, and a big chunk of those visitors came from America (nearly a full quarter). Other countries favoring India as a vacation destination include Russia, the Republic of Korea, Australia, and New Zealand.
The reason for the jump is no big surprise. People have wanted to visit India for years – who wouldn’t? The country is a veritable treasure trove of great culture, tasty food, amazing cities, epic landscapes, and wonderful beaches. There’s quite literally something for everyone in India from sports and adventure to luxury and relaxation.
The trouble has been that India travel visas have historically been very hard to obtain. The country has had a lot of hiccups over recent years trying to have third-party companies handle their visa processing services. Most of these efforts have been horrible failures, leading to backlogs and lots of mistakes. As a result, India has a bad reputation of being one of the hardest visas to apply for and receive in a timely manner.
However, that all recently changed. As of November 2014, India has initiated a new Electronic Travel Authorization program that enables citizens of 43 different countries to apply for their India visas online. Fortunately, the US is one of these countries, and obtaining the necessary visa to travel to India has gotten much, much easier thanks to the new program.
People who apply for India visas through our website typically get their visa approved in 24 hours. This is a major improvement over the weeks and sometimes months that it used to take to obtain an India visa. Plus, the application process has gotten a lot easier. There are a lot less opportunities to make mistakes, which means a much lower chance of your visa getting delayed.
So stop wasting time and plan your trip to India today!
