PANAJI
As tourism stakeholders are elated with Indian High Commission in London announcing the reinstating of the electronic visa (e-visa) for UK travellers, Minister for Tourism Rohan Khaunte has said the move will play a dominant role as far as international visitors to the coastal State are concerned.
"I welcome all my friends from the UK," was his first reaction to The Goan's question about the development.
"It (UK travellers) is a dominant market in Goa and we need to ensure these tourists add to the international numbers. When we talk about international tourists, UK and Russia play quite a major and dominant role," he further said.
The rollout of e-visas has been widely welcomed by the Goa government and stakeholders even as there has been a massive rush for visas to India.
The Indian High Commissioner to the UK, Vikram Doraiswami, said the system upgrade process is underway and the Indian visa website will soon be ready to receive applications for e-visas to India.
The State government had been pursuing the matter with the Centre by conveying concerns of the tourism sector and urging to restore the facility for UK visitors.
The National Conference of State Tourism Ministers at Dharamshala, Himachal Pradesh in September also saw Khaunte raising the "extremely serious" matter with the Centre.
"This is a confident tool to say that now things are smoothening up. Inbound tourists from the UK is a welcoming step and it will have a big role to play as far as tourism is concerned," the minister reiterated.
Hailing Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his cabinet besides CM Pramod Sawant for taking up the issue at their level, Khaunte has welcomed tourists to"enjoy in Goa in the right sense".
