New Delhi, Aug 9 (TIWN) Eyeing 20 million foreign tourists by 2020, the Union Tourism Ministry is out to actively woo foreign footfalls at major tourist destinations -- with new foreign language signage, plans to shorten the e-visa application form and slash the visa fees.

The ministry is planning to put up signboards in at least three foreign languages at places like Sanchi Stupa in Madhya Pradesh, Sarnath in Uttar Pradesh and Bodh Gaya in Bihar which are frequented by large numbers of tourists from Sri Lanka, Japan and South Korea. The ministry plans to put up sign languages in Sinhala, Japanese and Korean in these places.

The signboards will also feature QR codes which on scanning will provide detailed information about the monument, its history and other details in that particular foreign language.

"We are still in the initial phase, as officials and I myself have been pondering upon the possibilities of the plan. But once approved, this will certainly help in boosting up foreign tourists," the Minister of State (Independent Charge), Tourism, Prahlad Singh Patel told IANS.

Under the proposed plan, the ministry will initially identify famous monuments, later a data research will be conducted to ascertain the top three countries from where the most number of tourist visit that particular site. The ministry will then erect signboards in the mother tongue of those countries.