Israel Woos Indian Visitors by Easing Visa Norms

Israel has made visa application procedures easier in a bid to attract more tourists from India as well as the subcontinent. If an applicant has the entry and exit stamp and visas of the United States, Canada, Australia and Schengen countries, then documents like bank statement, flight tickets and hotel accommodation are not mandatory, a statement from the Israeli consulate released on Dec.14 said.

“This is an initiative we have been working very closely with interior ministry and foreign ministry to introduce in India and I am happy to see this change for the Indian travelers who wish to travel to Israel,” Hassan Madah, the India director of Israel Ministry of Tourism (IMOT), said, PTI reported.

Madah added that easing the documentation process for visa will help make the application process faster and also encourage more tourists to visit Israel. “We are also working on an express service with VFS, which will be introduced soon. In addition to this, we are working towards e-visa processing as well as easing the group visa process,” he said.

About 55,000 Indians have traveled to Israel until November this year. As many as 34 per cent more Indian tourists visited Israel between January and October 2017, as compared to the same period last year, according to data released by the Israel Ministry of Tourism (IMOT) in November this year.

Israel welcomed a total of three million tourists in the country this year.

“This has been the best year of incoming tourist arrivals for Israel and India continues to be an important contributor for us. Tourism is an important component of the Israeli economy and since the beginning of 2017, it has brought in $4.1 billion,” Madah had said earlier, IANS reported.

In 2016, 45,000 Indians visited Israel. The IMOT hopes the figure will shoot up to more than 60,000 by the end of this year. The department is also trying to woo tourists by liaising with some airlines to increase the frequency of flights to Israel, increase seat capacity and also cut down on the vacationing costs of tourists from all over the world and India.

The visa application is to be submitted at any of the Visa Application Centers in India — New Delhi, Bengaluru or Mumbai. The applications will then be assessed by the Embassy of Israel in New Delhi and the Consulate General of Israel, located in Mumbai and Bengaluru.