India- Are you trying to dissuade tourists from visiting your beautiful country?

It has been announced this week that if a UK citizen wants to visit India then they will have to visit in person one of the visa application centres and have their finger prints taken. This is all added hassle and expense on top of the £100 per person that they already charge for a visa.

With effect from March 14, 2015 all Applicants will be required to book an appointment online to submit their applications at Application Centres

Biometric Data collection, including fingerprint data and facial imagery will be a mandatory requirement for all visa applicants. As a result, all visa applicants will need to first apply online and, thereafter, be physically present at India Visa and Consular Services centres by appointment. There are several offices you can visit: 3 in London, Birmingham, Edinburgh, Manchester, Liverpool, Bradford, Newcastle, Belfast, Cardiff, Bristol, Glasgow and Leicester. Not so great if you live in Cornwall or one of the Scottish islands.

India is not a country I have visited although it is high on my list of places to see, but I can’t help but think that this added cost and effort will certainly deter me from booking any time soon.

There are 2 trips I have in mind for India. The first is to visit Kerala and take a sedate rice boat tour around the stunning backwaters. I love the food of Southern India – in fact ALL of India really (I watched Rick Steins TV series twice)! Kerala looks so much less commercialised than its neighbouring province, Goa and has picturesque beaches and the quintessential swaying palms that  feature on many of my holiday snaps.

The second trip would have to be a Golden Triangle tour, taking in all the main sites including Delhi and her beautiful Red Fort, Agra & the Taj Mahal and Jaipur known as ‘The Pink City. I would love to take a hair-raising tuk tuk ride dodging traffic on the busy streets and eat authentic Indian food and be  immersed in all of India’s exotic sights, smells and sounds.

However it seems like the Indian government keep making it harder and harder for us to visit. I completely understand that every country wants to keep it’s borders as secure as possible and has the right to vet anyone wishing to visit. I also understand that the UK government imposes high visa charges and also insists on a personal interview for many people (including those from India) wanting to apply for a visa to enter our country. So maybe finally we are feeling some of the pain that people who want to visit the UK feel. Contrary to popular belief our borders are not freely open to anyone who fancies a trip to the UK.

Maybe now India’s economy is on the up they don’t see tourism as an essential source of income, but as we know, economies can soon take a downward spiral and India may some day be begging for our tourist pound to return. ABTA have complained to the Indian High Commission about the new ruling, but will it do any good?

Watch this space……