The research was conducted in conjunction with Indian Compass, a website offering advice for Indians traveling in Europe.

It looks at the travel experiences of Indian residents in the UK and the bureaucratic problems that such visitors face when wanting to travel elsewhere in Europe. ETOA has been campaigning vociferously on visa issues, highlighting the lost tourism from new, emerging markets due to inefficient and uneven visa processing. Other destinations such as Southeast Asia, the US, and Australia are generally more flexible and seen as more welcoming. In light of the European Commission’s moves to bolster tourism and the UK government’s stated aim to increase visitor numbers from emerging markets such as China, ETOA is calling for more coordination between the UK and Schengen authorities and a more streamlined, intelligent processing system able to respond to peaks in demand, which will encourage rather than deter tourism.

The research will be presented at the start of the event at 11:00 am. The seminar that follows will look at the challenges facing tourism from these emerging markets, as well as how Europe can better market itself.