France is to cut visa delivery time to 48 hours for Russians, Indians and citizens of six other Asian countries in a bid to boost tourism, French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe said on Wednesday.
After a drop last year following a wave of attacks that hit Paris and Nice, numbers of tourists are rebounding this year.
France is eyeing a record of as many as 89 million foreign tourists, up from 83 million last year, and 100 million visitors in 2020.
Photo: AFP
From Nov. 1, citizens of Russia, India, Thailand, Philippines, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Indonesia will see the time to get a visa — which currently takes about 10 days, more in peak season — fall to 48 hours.
The measure, which is already in place for a few other nations, including Qatar, would be extended to Saudi Arabia and Vietnam next year if a change in EU visa procedures for those countries allows it.
The French government said it would assign more staff to airport passport checks to limit waiting time to 30 minutes for EU citizens and 45 minutes for non-EU citizens.
Tourism generates more than 7 percent of France’s GDP and employs 2 million people.
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