Currently as the world recovers from the Covid-19 pandemic, the phenomenon of “revenge travel” has taken over among Indians. Foreign travel has surged among indians as a perfect confluence of enhanced passport services, visa-on-arrival facilities, international airports, regional connectivity and rising middle-class incomes come together to facilitate a seamless experience for indian travelers. The enthusiastic indian traveler is more ready than ever before, whether in pursuit of employment opportunities, education, or simply for leisurely sightseeing. In a 2023 Booking.com survey, indians were ranked as the second most confident tourists in the Asia-Pacific region, just after Hong Kongers.
The significant role played by the Ministry of External Affairs is evident in this trend, with more than 10 crore passports issued in the last decade and over 60 countries offering visa-free and visa-on-arrival facilities to Indians. Notably, malaysia and kenya are the latest additions to this provision. Breaking an all-time annual record, india has issued more than 1.5 crore passport and related travel documents through passport offices in india and Missions and Posts abroad, marking an uptick of over 16% over 2022, according to Muktesh Pardeshi Secretary of Consular, Passport, Visa & Overseas indian Affairs.
The issuance of passports has shown a consistent increase since 2014, starting at 91 lakh. From 2015, the annual issuance consistently exceeded 1 crore until the pandemic years of 2020 and 2021, during which the numbers decreased to 64 lakh and 85 lakh, respectively. However, there was a significant rebound in 2022, with 1.29 crore new passports issued. As the world’s most populous country, india has the potential to raise a colossal outbound tourist market. The growth in India’s outbound tourists is a diplomatic leverage in India’s kitty, and bodes well for economic and people-to-people ties across destinations, which shall tempt more countries to facilitate seamless or entirely visa-free travel for Indians.
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