Cox & Kings, Thomas Cook shares soar on slew of visa sops

Mumbai: Shares of companies engaged in travel support services such as Cox & Kings surged as much as 11 per cent after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that Persons of Indian Origin cardholders will get lifetime Indian visa and that American tourists will be given visa on arrival.

Cox & Kings gained 11.07 per cent to settle at Rs 324, while shares of Thomas Cook surged 5.65 per cent to Rs 143.95 on the BSE. Among others, Trade Wings rose by 4.96 per cent and International Travel House Ltd was up 2.39 per cent. Market experts said that expectations of more tourists to come to India after yesterday's announcement fuelled rally in these stocks. Speaking at New York's Madison Square Garden yesterday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that Persons of Indian Origin (PIO) cardholders will get lifetime Indian visa and that American tourists will be given visa on arrival. He announced the merger of PIO and Overseas Citizens of India schemes to facilitate hassle-free travel to the Indian diaspora.

Person of Indian Origin and Overseas Indian citizen category to be merged to create a single category to remove the discrepancies and to help those whose spouses are of different nationality, Modi had said at the event.