US expects surge in Indian visitors after visa woes ease

Mumbai: US tourism is expecting a surge in Indian visitors to the States in the next 24 months as visa issues get addressed. More visitors are projected from tier-2 centres and new segments of tourists are expected to emerge as students, millennials and relatives of NRIs expand the market.
Adam Burke, president of the Los Angeles Tourism and Convention Board, who is also a member of the US department of commerce’s Travel and Tourism Advisory Board, said that there were so many categories of visitors that the board was not taking a ‘cookie cutter’ approach to tourism promotion in India.
Burke is in India as part of Los Angeles city’s target to get a million visitors to the city by 2030. The LA Tourism and Convention Board seeks to promote international visits as the city celebrates the 100th anniversary of the Hollywood sign, Warner Bros Studios, Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum and newly opened attractions. Pre-pandemic, LA received 1,30,000 Indian visitors.
Post-Covid visa hiccups have been an impediment to tourism and the board has been lobbying for reducing the wait time. “This is a significant issue as we will not see full recovery without addressing the visa wait time,” said Burke. He said that the measures announced by the US recently would significantly reduce wait time.The measures to reduce the wait time include processing applications in consulates outside the country and revalidation of certain visas within the US as against the earlier practice of requiring visitors to apply from outside the US. The department has also eased the visa application process for those with recently expired visas. According to Burke, visa interviews will likely be done through video instead of face-to-face meetings.
Besides visas, the other impediment is the absence of direct flights to the city, which Burke said he was hopeful would be addressed with Air India’s announced expansion.
LA Tourism established its full-time India office in 2019. According to Burke, India currently ranks number nine among international visitors but it is expected to leapfrog to the top five in the next 24 months after visa issues are addressed. India is expected to be number two among international visitors to LA by 2030.