Bangladesh replaces US on tourist inflow

[Nilgiri]

When I was London about a year ago, some fat guy in his 40s started speaking to me in Hindi, I told him I didn't understand, then he said something to me in hindi and I gave me him a blank stare. Then he told me that I was a shame to India, and told me to learn my mother tongue called me disgrace and walked way. I was shocked, and so cringe worthy.

That wasn't the first time either, but others just look at me weird and walkway.

Thats terrible. It must have been @hinduguy, hes a real tool.

My dad is full of such stories as well since he never really learned Hindi being from the earlier generation of TN. He does know how to read it quite well since he knows Sanskrit proficiently....and thus can also pick out some words that are from Sanskrit too....but he has got a lot of cold shoulder and rude behaviour from hindi-speakers who expect him to know it just because he is a fellow brown guy.

My mom however learned Hindi at school, worked in a Bank with many Hindi speakers, and passed on basics to me and I added to it over time hehe....but I do prefer typing in English since I learned English as my 2nd language earlier on compared to Hindi....which I guess is about equivalent to French for me in order of learning.

 

[Śakra]

Thought Bangladeshis were your friends

Friendships are between equals. They will never be our friends.

Thats terrible. It must have been @hinduguy, hes a real tool.

My dad is full of such stories as well since he never really learned Hindi being from the earlier generation of TN. He does know how to read it quite well since he knows Sanskrit proficiently....and thus can also pick out some words that are from Sanskrit too....but he has got a lot of cold shoulder and rude behaviour from hindi-speakers who expect him to know it just because he is a fellow brown guy.

My mom however learned Hindi at school, worked in a Bank with many Hindi speakers, and passed on basics to me and I added to it over time hehe....but I do prefer typing in English since I learned English as my 2nd language earlier on compared to Hindi....which I guess is about equivalent to French for me in order of learning.

He's probably thinking "thank god for that tatsam"

 

[Indika]

I was thinking of visiting India, would it be difficult to get around without speaking Hindi in Delhi? and would people look at me weird if I didn't speak Hindi? or is it normal for a person from non-hindi speaking state not be able to speak Hindi?

Because I know when I traveled to other foreign countries where there are Indians, some Indians would start speaking to me in Hindi, and it becomes really awkward when you have to explain that you don't understand. And they look at you weird.

most of the major places ppl will speak english and smattering of english in far away places. Not every one speaks hindi in India, ppl from southern India who visit northern parts will be in the same situation. But of course quite often you will encounter species which knows only one language thats not ur fault. Same thing can be said with tamil nadu some ppl will only answer in tamil inspite of knowing what ppl are asking. You should not have any problem in cosmopolitan areas.

 

[supun1]

@Nilgiri How do i private message you, id like to know some stuff about india.

 

[Mo12]

Learn how to use ur head and hand movement to communicate if you dont know hindi haha

 

[Nilgiri]

@Nilgiri How do i private message you, id like to know some stuff about india.

Unfortunately pm's are not activated for regular members on this forum. Try leaving an (non-important) email addy or such on my profile page.

 

[YogaMudra]

When I was London about a year ago, some fat guy in his 40s started speaking to me in Hindi, I told him I didn't understand, then he said something to me in hindi and I gave me him a blank stare. Then he told me that I was a shame to India, and told me to learn my mother tongue called me disgrace and walked way. I was shocked, and so cringe worthy.

That wasn't the first time either, but others just look at me weird and walkway.

You probably look like an Indian so people mistake you for one.

When they realise you are not an Indian, they are probably embarrassed and walk away.

So unless you want to pretend to be an India in Delhi, you have no need to speak hindi. Just say you are a Sri Lankan and you will be just fine.

In any case both Indian and international tourists are targeted by con men, taxi drivers and trouts in Delhi. Knowing Hindi does not make the slightest difference. The moment they now you are not from Delhi, the first thing they will think of is how to make more money off you. So if you are going to use Uber to visit places, you do not need to know Hindi and payment is online.

Then again you could meet some really nice people and they might go out of the way to help you too.

 

[Orakzai]

Friendships are between equals. They will never be our friends.



He's probably thinking "thank god for that tatsam"

Lol and what makes you think they arent equal to you lot?

 

[livingdead]

I was thinking of visiting India, would it be difficult to get around without speaking Hindi in Delhi? and would people look at me weird if I didn't speak Hindi? or is it normal for a person from non-hindi speaking state not be able to speak Hindi?

Because I know when I traveled to other foreign countries where there are Indians, some Indians would start speaking to me in Hindi, and it becomes really awkward when you have to explain that you don't understand. And they look at you weird.

well if you look like Indian then people will expect you to know the local language.. or hindi... you can always say you are from lanka and keep talking in English... there are tonnes of europeans and israelis travelling in India, and they know almost no hindi...
obviously everything is going to be more expensive if they know you are not local, and even more if you are not Indian.. use your skin color to your advantage and pretend you are south Indian when in north(and vice versa)..

 

[schoolboy]

I'm happy if these statistics are accurate. Nothing like positive people-to-people contact to influence perception and ties. Sri Lanka and Bangladesh have become a lot closer now that travel is so easy and immigration rules relaxed. That's how it should be among neighbouring countries.

I was thinking of visiting India, would it be difficult to get around without speaking Hindi in Delhi? and would people look at me weird if I didn't speak Hindi? or is it normal for a person from non-hindi speaking state not be able to speak Hindi?

Not really, plenty of south indians do just fine - and english is understood even if not spoken. Let me know if you have any further questions on your trip. A Sri Lankan friend of mine helped me very much on a recent visit of mine to SL and everywhere I went I was received very warmly - I'd like to repay the favour.

Most people who go to school learn Hindi in school.

Err...no, most people who go to school in north india learn hindi as part of curriculum. Others learn it from movies, friends an TV ads. Outside big cities few people in south india use or know hindi.

Friendships are between equals. They will never be our friends.

What makes you say that? Bangladesh and India have concluded many agreements in the last ten years and we have both saved much money and stress on border management and security.

 

[BanglaBhoot]

India further eases visa process for Bangladeshi travellers

India has further eased the visa process for Bangladeshi travellers by extending the scheme for walk-in tourist visas with confirmed journey tickets to eight Indian Visa Application Centers in Bangladesh with effect from February 1, reports UNB. All Bangladeshi travellers who have confirmed journey tickets can avail of this facility of walk-in tourist visa without appointment dates at IVACs in Rajshahi, Rangpur, Sylhet, Chittagong, Khulna, Jessore, Mymensingh, and Barisal. This initiative is part of the ongoing efforts to streamline, liberalise and ease the process of securing Indian visas, said the Indian High Commission in Dhaka on Sunday. Applicants in Dhaka with confirmed journey tickets - air, bus, rail - may continue to submit their tourist visa applications on a walk-in basis at IVAC Mirpur. Bangladesh travellers wishing to avail of walk-in tourist visa should have a confirmed air, train or bus ticket (issued by authorised operators) to India. The date of journey should be within one month of the date of submission of the visa application at IVAC. Further details are available at www.ivacbd.com. The walk-in tourist visa scheme was launched first in October 2016 for women travellers and their family members and thereafter extended to all Bangladesh travellers from January 1, 2017. The scheme has eased access to Indian visas for Bangladesh nationals. No Bangladesh national with a confirmed ticket to India (by air, bus or train) requires an e-token/online appointment date to apply for a tourist visa. This measure is aimed at strengthening people-to-people contacts between India and Bangladesh, said the High Commission. The News Today Correspondent adds: Over 1354600 Bangladeshis visited neighbouring India during calendar year 2016 as India has simplified its visa system to facilitate foreigners visiting the country for tourism, medical tourism and business, sources said . With compulsory e-token has been withdrawn for the Indian visa, now increasing number of Bangladeshis will be interested to visit India. Over 2.5 million Bangladeshis are likely to visit India this year The cost of Indian visa processing was 50-60 per cent of the cost EU visa processing last year. Earlier e-token costs a Bangladeshi visitor taka 3000-4000 and sometimes 5000, sources said Foreign tourist arrivals (FTAs) into India were not impacted in any way by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's decision to demonetise Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes, reveal statistics released by the tourism ministry. FTAs in December increased 13.6 percent to 10.37 lakh (1.03 million) as against 9.13 lakh in December 2015. Domestic air traffic also grew sharply in December 2016. The foreign exchange earnings (FEEs) from these tourists rose to $2.47 billion in comparison to $2.13 billion in December 2015, the tourism ministry update released on Tuesday said. The top five source destinations from where the tourists came were the US (18.33 percent), Bangladesh (13.02 percent), the UK (11.71 percent), Australia (5.43 percent) and the Russian Federation (4.18 percent). For calendar year (CY) 2016, the number of FTAs grew 10.7 percent to 88.90 lakh (8.89 million) from 80.27 lakh (8.02 million) in CY 2015 and 7.68 million in CY 2014. FEEs in CY 2016 stood at $23.14 billion, up 9.8 percent from $21.07 billion in CY 2015, the ministry said. Tourism, apart from domestic civil aviation, is apparently one of the few sectors to have bucked the trend of falling business in the two months of demonetisation for which statistics are available. Popular tourist destinations visited by foreigners in India include the Taj Mahal, Qutub Minar and Red Fort in Delhi, Amer Fort in Jaipur, Jaisalmer Fort in Jaisalmer, backwaters of Kerala, Goan beaches and temples in south India. Tourism is a big revenue and employment generator in India. "In 2015, the travel and tourism industry contributed a total of 124.8 billion U.S. dollars to GDP in India, thereby, accounting for approximately six percent of India's total GDP," Viren Batra, CEO & Co Founder of Nirvana Excursions, said. The company offers pre-packaged & customised tours worldwide. "While demonetisation did threaten to shake up the sector, the Union Budget 2017-18 is expected to make sweeping changes to the sector," he added. Meanwhile, India has simplified its visa system to facilitate foreigners visiting the country for tourism, medical tourism and business. A meeting of the federal cabinet chaired by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave the approval recently. "The approval will facilitate entry of foreigners for tourism, business and medical purposes, "an official statement of Indian home ministry said adding "this is expected to stimulate economic growth, increase earnings from export of services like tourism, medical value travel and travel on account of business..." This will also considerably ease the travel of foreigners to India for the mentioned legitimate purposes, it added. Bangladesh is one of the top two contributors of foreign tourists to India - mostly driven by trade and cheaper and better healthcare. Meanwhile, Indian High Commissi-oner to Bangladesh Harsh Vardhan Shringla said that Indian government has set a target to issue 14,000 business visas by the end of this year. Harsh Vardhan Shringla said that India has liberalized the business visa regime for Bangladesh businessmen and are now issuing 5 years multiple- entry Business Visas to nearly all the applicants.' The number of 3-5 year Business Visas issued by high commission of India more than doubled to 4772 in 2015 from 2272 in 2014. Foreign tourist arrival ( FTAs) in neighbouring India during the Month of November, 2016 were 8.91 lakh as compared to FTAs of 8.16 lakh during the month of November, 2015 and 7.65 lakh in November, 2014. There has been a growth of 9.3% in November, 2016 over November, 2015. FTAs during the period January- November, 2016 were 78.53 lakh with a growth of 10.4% as compared to the FTAs of 71.14 lakh with a growth of 4.7% in January- November, 2015 over January- November, The Percentage share of Foreign Tourist Arrivals (FTAs) in India during November, 2016 among the top 15 source countries was highest from USA (15.53%) followed by UK (11.21%), Bangladesh (10.72%), Canada (4.66%), Russian Fed (4.53%), Australia (4.04%), Malaysia (3.65%), Germany (3.53%), China (3.14%), France (2.88%), Sri Lanka (2.49%), Japan (2.49%), Singapore (2.16%), Nepal (1.46%) and Thailand (1.37%). 9.3% growth in Foreign Tourist Arrivals (FTAs) in November 2016 over the same period in 2015. USA accounts for highest share of tourist arrivals followed by UK and Bangladesh in November 2016. Rs. 14, 474/- crore Foreign Exchange earned through tourism in November 2016. Ministry of Tourism compiles monthly estimates of Foreign Tourist Arrivals (FTAs) on the basis of Nationality-wise, Port-wise data received from Bureau of Immigration (BOI) and Foreign Exchange Earnings (FEEs) from tourism on the basis of data available from Reserve Bank of India. The following are the important highlights regarding FTAs and FEEs from tourism during the month of November, 2016.

http://www.newstoday.com.bd/index.php?option=details&news_id=2463856&date=2017-02-08

 

[schoolboy]

India has further eased the visa process for Bangladeshi travellers by extending the scheme for walk-in tourist visas with confirmed journey tickets to eight Indian Visa Application Centers in Bangladesh with effect from February 1, reports UNB.

Excellent news, thanks for this update. It's good our external affairs ministry did not get stuck in some stupid ego-driven demand for reciprocal arrangements and took the first step. I hope this is changed to visa-on-arrival / e-visa in the future (as we have for Sri Lanka and 130 other countries).

 

[YogaMudra]

Err...no, most people who go to school in north india learn hindi as part of curriculum. Others learn it from movies, friends an TV ads. Outside big cities few people in south india use or know hindi.

err.... yes.

As a south Indian, with a south Indian wife and living in south India, I do not think I need "gyan" from you about how many south Indian people speak and understand Hindi.

Almost all south Indians are Bilingual, Many are tri lingual and the population that do no understand hindi is very low. Even in TN people tend to understand Hindi, they just do not like to acknowledge it due to language chauvinism.

Its similar to France, where people might understand english, but pretend not to understand english. I have always found it easier to ask them directions in Hindi. That way they go out of the way to help you. Asking them in english only makes them snub you.

 

[supun1]

Excellent news, thanks for this update. It's good our external affairs ministry did not get stuck in some stupid ego-driven demand for reciprocal arrangements and took the first step. I hope this is changed to visa-on-arrival / e-visa in the future (as we have for Sri Lanka and 130 other countries).

As far as I know, Singapore is the only country that Sri lanka extends visa on arrival too.

It was extended to a lot more previously, but after the ministry of defence complained that they don't have enough time to conduct their security assessment, it was stopped entirely and changed to an Electronic Travel Authorization (ETA), I think this is issued in less than 48 hours after you apply for it. It's a simple online process, you give them your passport details and some other background information, and they email you the ETA.

 

[Nilgiri]

As far as I know, Singapore is the only country that Sri lanka extends visa on arrival too.

Seychelles and Maldives apparently as well.

Majority of world needs ETA outside of these for VOA.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visa_policy_of_Sri_Lanka