European visa is unpleasant process

Wednesday, 20 October 2010 00:23 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

The latest report from the European Tour Operators Association (ETOA) finds that the process of applying for a visa to Europe is an unpleasant one. Over 450,000 tourists are deterred from visiting, with Indian and Chinese tourists most likely to face red tapeism and bad communication.

Visa processing by the UK has been identified to be the most problematic, followed by France. Germany has been ranked the best consular authority, with friendliness and speed of processing being some of the factors that count, as reported in TravelDailyNews.

Although China has been singled out as one of the most important growth markets for Europe, 26% of potential Chinese visitors cancelled their trip owing to the slow processing of Schengen visas, while over 58,000 tourists globally cancelled their trip to the UK due to the same reason.

Conservative estimates by the EATO put the financial loss to the European Union, caused by poor visa processing at over 500-million euros per year.