18 nations get hi-power Indian visa

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New Delhi: This festive season, India is opening its arms to the world, giving a boost to the promising tourism industry and an early Christmas gift to the visitors from world over.

In an attempt to giving the hospitality industry a boost, the Home Ministry has for the first time ever facilitated a five-year tourism visa with a provision for multiple entries for tourists.

The letter from the Ministry - exclusively in the possession of CNN-IBN - extends this facility to tourists coming from 18 countries including France, Germany, Spain, Switzerland, Holland, Japan, South Korea, Belgium among others.

Interestingly, this visa will not be given to citizens of the United Kingdom till about 2007.

These countries mean a lot to the Indian hospitality industry. Citizens from several of these nations have a tradition of being good tourists and the travellers couldn't be happier.

“I think it’s a good idea to extend the visa by five years. I mean, that’s a very long time,” says a tourist, Angelo Pimental.

The new facility will also allow tourists a stay of 90 days on each visit which translates to a long-term visa as well as a longer stay each time – a perfect welcome with open arms.

“I think it’s good thing to be able to come back in five years because the longer you stay at a place the more you get to know and learn,” says another tourist Kimberly McDonald.

With the foreign tourist inflow touching the 40-lakh mark for this year alone - 13 per cent more than previous years - the government's new visa policy will serve to be a shot in the arm for the tourism industry.