Indian travellers will be the first in the world to be eligible for an e-visa programme for Israel that could kick start later this year, Amruta Bangera, director of marketing at Israel Ministry of Tourism, India, told ET. Currently, Israel doesn't offer e-visas to any country.
Bangera said Israel is back to attracting tourists and is aiming to get 70,000 tourists from India by 2025, and one lakh tourists from India by 2026. Up until the end of September last year, Israel received about 41,800 Indian visitors in 2023. In 2019 Israel received 65,100 tourists from India.
“To attract more tourists and make it easier for them, we are planning to come up with an e visa programme. It’s still in a nascent stage, but by the end of the year, we should have a pilot running for e visas for Indians,” said Bangera.
Bangera said talks are also on with IndiGo and Air India to boost flight capacity and that the travel companies are also being reached out to for signing agreements for marketing and collaborations.
“They are planning to do a daily flight to Israel and I am told they are also contemplating whether to operate a few from Mumbai or just continue from Delhi.
I’ve been informed that they would come up with details by the end of the third quarter. We are also planning a digital campaign for India besides participating in seminars and roadshows and signing agreements with travel agents,” she added.
From January to June this year, 5,700 tourists from India visited Israel. Overall, Israel received around 4,95,300 lakh tourists globally during the same period. Its biggest source markets are the US and Europe.
Source : https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/nri/visit/in-a-first-israel-could-roll-out-e-visa-programme-for-indians-by-year-end-country-aims-to-attract-70k-tourists-by-2025/articleshow/111935776.cms
