New online tourist visas under review
THE government is likely to keep running manual and online visas in parallel following warnings by the tourism industry that Kenya could lose Sh30 billion annually.
Last month the Interior ministry set a deadline of September 1 to completely phase out manual visa applications at airports upon entry.
The Immigration Department has already started online visa processing at www.ecitizen.go.ke. Visas are supposed to be processed within one week but there have been multiple complaints of long delays and difficulties in getting registered.
Yesterday, tourism industry representatives met Interior PS Monicah Juma to discuss the way forward. It was agreed to keep running both the manual and online systems until the problems are ironed out.
“E-visa is a reality and not really a bad thing. The problem is that it has been having teething problems which we have raised at the meeting this morning [yesterday],” said Kenya Tourism Federation chair Lucy Karume.
The tour operators believe there could be a catastrophic fall in visitor numbers if tourists are forced to get visas online in advance.
- Meer hier : http://www.the-star.co.ke/news/new-online-tourist-visas-under-review#sthash.6AiHzMuL.dpuf
http://www.the-star.co.ke/news/new-online-tourist-visas-under-review