Cameron : Online easier visas Indian Tourists

Nksagar-Sagar Media -: British Prime Minister David Cameron said the travel industry, which contributed 115 billion pounds to the national economy annually, was "fundamental to the rebuilding of our economy" given its potential to generate jobs and revenue.

Prime Minister David Cameron has delivered a speech in central London on the challenges and opportunities that tourism presents. 'I wanted to do it here, at the heart of the most internationally visited city in the world and I’m delighted that you’re all able to come.I want to talk about just how incredibly important I think our tourism industry is and what we need to do now to make the most of it not just here in London but right across our country.

For too long tourism has been looked down on as a second class service sector. That’s just wrong. Tourism is a fiercely competitive market, requiring skills, talent, enterprise and a government that backs Britain. It’s fundamental to the rebuilding and rebalancing of our economy.'

It’s one of the best and fastest ways of generating the jobs we need so badly in this country. And it’s absolutely crucial to us making the most of the Olympics and indeed a whole decade of great international sport across Britain. One of the ways to boost tourism in the coming years will be to ease the process of issuing visitors visas to people from India and China.He said: "Were going to remove some of the obstacles that put people off coming here, for example, by working more closely with our international partners to improve the local delivery of visa services in key markets like China and India."

Cameron further adds online applications for visas will be increased from one third to 75 percent by 2011, with 100 percent coverage by 2014.The government will also give more power to local authorities to set tourism policy and remove bureaucracy that discourages small businesses, he said.

Cameron's visa announcement comes amidst new figures that reveal a record number of Indian shoppers scoured London's West End and other stores across Britain for luxury goods between June 2009 and June 2010.

Figures released reveal the growing international mobility of Indian tourists, whose number jumped by a record 89 per cent during the period, according to research by financial services company Global Blue.The analysis was collected from over 15,000 stores in Britain.

Cameron said UK tourism must focus on "heritage" and urged people to be more "proud" of the UK and its history.The country was not "doing enough" to break into the top five most-visited destinations in the world, he added.