It seems like the Indian government has finally seen the light about how frustrating the two month gap rule is for tourists. Tourism Minister Subodh Kant Sahai stated yesterday, at the World Tourism Mart in London, that the issue would be "resolved" soon. "We are going to remove this barrier," he advised when queried about it.
The Minister was there to accept two awards won by India -- World's Leading Destination and World's Leading Tourist Board (Incredible India).
The award for the world's leading destination is particularly exciting for India, not to mention a fantastic achievement. It's a real indication of India's growing importance on the world map. The Indian government aims to attract an additional five million tourists to India within the next three years. In order to cater for them, substantial effort is going to be put into upgrading infrastructure and building more hotels. However, doing something about the pesky 2 month gap rule would be a really good start!
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I used to holiday in India in early December and February but can not now because of the two month out rule. Now I only visit once a year. The Indian airlines loose out as I take one return schedule flight where I used to take two, the taxi drivers, hotels and restaurants loose out as I do not spend as much. What possible good does the two month out rule do? None as far as I can see.
Prime Minister said the same (”within a month”) – but hasn’t happened!