NEW DELHI: One thing that will be a constant during the ICC World Cup 2019, which takes place in the UK from May 30 to July 14, is a prominent India presence.
And that presence will be on full display when India take on South Africa in its first World Cup fixture at Southampton on June 5, what with cricket fans and corporate groups all heading to England to be “in on the action”.
“Our rough estimate is around 80,000 Indians may travel for the World Cup. This is based on previous India-UK travel trends and the numbers of Indians travelling for previous tournaments. We do not have a global estimate for how many people in total will travel but is extremely likely that Indians will be the highest – given the size of the market and passion for sport in India and the great flight connections between India and UK,” the British High Commission, New Delhi, stated to Business Standard.
The demand is the highest for India-Pakistan match at Old Trafford in Manchester on June 16 and also for the final at Lords on July 14. The cricket World Cup final coincides with two other major sporting events – Wimbledon men’s tennis final and F1 grand prix final at Silverstone in England. Other matches attracting huge interest are the India-Australia and India-England games.
Demand for visas is higher than usual because of the World Cup, with 3,500 applications received each day. ” Our visa services partner VFS Global has already processed over 200,000 visa applications in India during January-April,” the High Commission stated to BS.
The UK Visa and Immigration department has been carrying out marketing campaigns across India since February to encourage more Indians to travel to the country. From end of April of to the end of tournament it will implement second phase of campaign – encourage late applicants to use priority visa facility. “This will get a decision in five working days (rather than standard 15) and means everyone can get a decision in time for the match they want to see,” the High Commission said.
