ROYAL TRAVELS NEWS.

The fight for global travellers, tourists from India are getting noticed, with more countries making special efforts to ease visa formalities for its citizens. The Visa Openness Report 2014 by the United Nations World Tourism Organization says India has improved on its mobility score  the extent to which tourists can travel around the world without visa hassles. "When comparing data between 2014 and 2008 for the promising outbound markets of Brazil, Russian Federation, China, India and South Africa (BRICS), it becomes clear that the destinations are making special efforts to facilitate visa formalities for tourists originating from these prospering economies," the report said.

India's mobility score rose to 50 in 2014 from 32 in 2008, marginally higher than the mobility score of 46 for China, where outbound travel is growing by leaps and bounds. However, Indians still have a long way to go to become the most mobile travellers. 

That privilege is for the citizens of Finland, the US, Sweden and Germany, which are least impacted by visa restrictions and have a mobility score of 159. "Countries have started looking towards Indian travellers to drive growth of their tourism markets and have eased visa processes as well as extended visa on arrival to Indians to try and incentivise travel to their countries," says Sharat Dhall, COO at travel portal Yatra.