Foreign countries have always welcomed Indians, especially Punjabis. However, according to VFS Global, Jalandhar and Chandigarh have seen the maximum jump in visa applications in the country at 66% and 54% respectively in the year 2018.
Tier II Indian cities have significantly contributed to the growth in outbound travel from India. Where there was a constant growth in metro cities like Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru and Hydrabad, VFS data shows that there has been a steep increase in the growth of visa applications in Tier II cities like Jalandhar(66%), Chandigarh(54%), Pondicherry(43%) and Goa(45%). Significant has also been seen in other places like Ahemdabad(32%) and Pune (20%).
“With the year-on-year increase in visa applications from India, it is evident that foreign travel is no longer the domain of a privileged few. A large part of this growth comes from smaller cities-more Indians from these cities are travelling abroad than ever before and are keen to explore even offbeat destinations”, said Vinay Malhotra who is VFS Global regional group COO for Middle east, South Asia and China.
As expected, the maximam visa applications from Indians were for visitor magnets like Canada, Malaysia, Schengen, Thailand, US AND UK.