India Fully Restores All Tourist Visa A Game Changer for Long-Haul Travel

India has reinstated every category of tourist visa suspended since March 2020. Both traditional long-duration paper visas and e-Tourist visas including 1-year, 5-year, and 60-month options are now fully active .

Why this matters for B2B:

Repeat travellers no longer need to reapply for valid multiple-entry visas. Before COVID, India issued approximately 2.5 million tourist visas annually; by 2025, that number remained under one million due to restrictions. Hotel chains including IHCL (Taj), Marriott, and Oyo are already reporting deferred winter-sun and multi-destination bookings now being activated .

The Ministry of Tourism has launched the global marketing slogan, “India—Open Again, Open Always,” highlighting heritage circuits, wildlife reserves, and spiritual retreats. DMCs and tour operators should immediately refresh India itineraries for extended-stay and repeat visitors. Airlines predict extended booking curves as travellers can now plan multi-year travel without repeated reapplication hassles.