Since November 2014, India has offered the option for tourists to enter the country on an E-Tourist Visa, a document obtained electronically prior to entering the country. This make come as no surprise, but the program has been a smashing success, making it easier for tourists to enter the country. This has played a part in the growth India’s tourism industry has seen, especially among tourists from more developed nations. With new regulations making travel even easier for tourists, it is anticipated that the number of people using these e-documents will skyrocket in 2016 according to FlightHub, an online travel agency offering flights to and from India.

Reasons for this optimism come thanks to a recent FlightHub review of stats regarding E-Tourist Visa usage in the month of December 2015. Comparing numbers from December 2014 to numbers from December 2015 show a over 630 per cent increase in E-Tourist Visa usage. The three countries who benefitted from this the most were the United Kingdom, United States, and Russia. Over 1,000,000 tourists arrived in India in December 2015, smashing the 14,000 that arrived with this documentation in December 2014.

The E-Tourist Visa program began in November 2014, offering expedited entry to over 40 countries. It has since grown to include 113 countries. These entries range in cost from $60 USD, to completely free for countries that are recognized as being lower developed. These visa entries are available for use at 16 Indian Airports, with the majority of them being redeemed at New Dehli, Mumbai, and Goa.

Future moves to improve the E-Tourist Visa program include the loosening of rules for high profile investors heading to India for business means. This is being done to promote India as an investment hotbed according to FlightHub, and attract job-creators to a country whose economy is poised to take off over the next decade.