New Delhi: India’s temporary suspension of visas for Canadians amid a major diplomatic row could cause significant loss of revenue and foreign currency especially as peak travel season approaches, experts in the tourism industry told ThePrint.
The suspension of visa services came last week, days after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau alleged that Indian agents were potentially responsible for the murder of Canadian citizen and separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
The move, according to people working in the industry, would be particularly detrimental to India in light of the peak travel season from October to March, when foreign tourists visit.
“There have been a lot of cancellations of travel bookings made by Canadians to India. Moreover, a lot of passports are still held in the High Commission in Canada,” Jyoti Mayal, president of the Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI) — the largest nodal travel and tourism association in India — told ThePrint.
Significantly, Canada was the fifth largest source country for foreign tourist arrivals in India in 2022, according to data published by the Ministry of Tourism. In 2022, a total of 2,77,291 Canadians travelled to India, accounting for a total of 4.48 percent of all foreign tourist arrivals in the country.
ThePrint reached the office of the Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Arindam Bagchi for comment via calls. This report will be updated when a response is received. But sources in the Ministry of Tourism admitted that the Indian government’s move will have an impact on inbound travel to India.
According to the provisional statistics published in the government’s ‘India Tourism Statistics At A Glance—2023’ report, a total of 61,91,399 foreign tourists arrived in India in 2022. India’s estimated foreign exchange earning for that year was $16.92 billion.
The top sources for foreign tourist arrivals in India in 2022 were the US (13,73,817 tourists), Bangladesh (12,55,960 tourists), United Kingdom (6,17,768 tourists), Australia (3,69,023 tourists) and Canada (2.77 lakh tourists).
The 2023 report does not present statistics on the purpose for travel by the foreign tourists. But a 2020 ‘India Tourism Statistics’ report published by the Ministry of Tourism highlights that in 2019, 50.94 percent of all Canadian arrivals that year were for the purpose leisure holiday and recreation, while only 21.49 percent of arrivals were from the Indian diaspora.
“Tour operators and hotels catering to Canada will be affected by the suspension of visa services, especially in states like Kerala that receive about 25,000 to 30,000 Canadian tourists every year,” TAAI’s Mayal told ThePrint.
“Tourists from Canada planning to travel to India in the months of October and November have held off finalising their bookings,” Tarun Mathur, founder and director of Aatman Trails — a destination management company located in Ghaziabad — told ThePrint.
He further said that foreign tourists generally travel to two main areas — Rajasthan and South India, both of which are heavily promoted by the travel fraternity in India.
According to the 2023 statistics published by the Ministry of Tourism, the peak month of travel for Canadian tourists is December, and Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai airports are the three top arrival check posts by air for foreign tourists coming to India.
‘Cascading effect’
With India’s tourism industry still recovering from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the suspension of visa services would have a cascading effect, said experts.
“With the (Canadian) tourists putting on hold their bookings, it affects hotels, individuals in the transport sector and local guides, who otherwise would be booked out during the peak season of travel,” Mathur of Aatman Trails, quoted earlier, said.
Foreign tourists’ bookings with the travel agents and tour operators in India are generally invoiced in US dollars, bringing invaluable foreign exchange to the country.
According to revised estimates the Ministry of Tourism published in 2020, the total foreign exchange earnings from foreign tourists travelling to India in 2019 — the year before the COVID-19 pandemic — touched $30.058 billion.
Mayal from TAAI explained that the long-term ramifications of the suspension of visas by the MEA would impact the confidence in the Indian tourism sector. “This would leave Canadian tourists unsure of travelling to India,” she added.
According to Mathur, electronic visas made it easier for Canadian tourists to apply for travel documents just before arriving in India. “Usually, for travel at the end of October, Canadian tourists would apply for e-visas in the first week of the month. This has been affected by the current suspension.”
Rajiv Mehra, president of the Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO) — the apex body of inbound tour operators in India — concurred with the views expressed by Mathur. “Canada is one of the biggest source markets for foreign tourists to India. While visas already issued and those with Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) cards can still travel, the lack of fresh visas will impact the industry,” he said.
The situation, according to Mehra, is also compounded by the Indian government’s 2022 decision to suspend tourist visas for Chinese citizens.
The 2020 report showed that China was the sixth largest market for India in 2019, with a total of 3,39,442 tourists. According to the report, of the total Chinese citizens visiting India, a whopping 43.3 percent came for holiday and recreation.
India suspension of tourist visas to Chinese citizens in April 2022 came after Beijing’s repeated refusal to allow Indian students enrolled in Chinese universities back into the country after the pandemic.
Mehra said he hopes that by March 2024, India’s foreign tourist arrivals will reach the levels last seen in March 2020, before the country announced a lockdown to arrest the spread of COVID-19.
“Inbound tourism to India from abroad has hit about 40 percent of pre-pandemic levels. My goal was to reach March 2020 levels of inbound tourists by March 2024. But I doubt we can reach that now,” he added.
(Edited by Uttara Ramaswamy)
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