New UNWTO research on visa
facilitation shows that Asia Pacific and the Americas are the most ‘open’
regions in terms of tourist visa requirements.
Data also shows that there has
been significant progress on visa facilitation globally in recent years,
particularly with the implementation of visa on arrival policies.
Based on a global evaluation of
visa requirements, including the implementation of policies that allow for visa
on arrival and e-visas, UNWTO findings show that in 2012 Asia and the Americas
were the most ‘open’ regions for the entry of tourists.
An average 20% of the world’s
population were not required a visa to visit an Asian destination, while 19%
could obtain a visa on arrival and 7% an e-visa – 31%, 8% and 1% respectively
in the case of the Americas.
European destinations were the ‘least open’
when comparing the three components of a visa policy (no visa; visa on arrival
and e-visas).
Although 21% of the world
population was not required a visa to enter Europe
for tourism, only 6% were able to apply for a visa on arrival and no e-visa
system was in place.
“An overall restrictive visa
policy means lost opportunities for economic growth and jobs, which tourism
could bring to destinations. Travelers regard visas as a formality which
entails a cost. This can be a deterrent to travel if costs - whether monetary
or indirect - including distance, wait times and service, exceed a certain
threshold,” said UNWTO Secretary-General, Taleb Rifai.
On a global level, in 2012, only
18% of the world’s population were not required a visa at all when travelling
for tourism. Destinations around the world requested on average from 63% of the
world’s population that they obtain a traditional visa before initiating their
international journey. Another 16% was be able to apply for a visa on arrival,
while only 2% of the population was allowed to apply for an e-visa.
This new UNWTO research also
shows considerable progress towards visa facilitation over recent years: the
requirement of a traditional tourism visa went from 77% to 63% of the world’s
population between 2008 and 2012, with significant changes over the last two
years.
It was also noted that
destinations tend to thoroughly review and introduce changes when reviewing
their visa policies. Since 2010, 43 destinations clearly facilitated the visa
process for citizens of at least 20 countries by changing their visa policies from
‘visa required’ to either ‘no visa required’, ‘visa on arrival’ or e-visa’,
directly impacting on 5,080 destination-source market relations.
“Important strides have been made
in recent times in terms of visa facilitation as more and more countries understand
its implicit economic benefits. We welcome moves by the USA , the European Union and many
other countries which have implemented or are looking into implementing more
open visa policies. But we cannot ignore that visa procedures still represent
an obstacle to tourism growth and we hope that these good examples can be
followed by others,” Mr. Rifai added.
Improving visa processes could
generate an extra US$ 206 billion in tourism receipts and create as many as 5.1
million additional jobs by 2015 in the G20 economies alone, according to the
joint research by UNWTO and the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC).
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