NEW DELHI, April 1 – Foreign tourists inflow into India took a hit with a significant drop of 25 per cent in the last three months, which is usually a peak season amid concern over safety of female travellers. According to quick random survey undertaken by ASSOCHAM Social Development Foundation (ASDF), tourism industry that has suffered the most is Delhi-National Capital Region.
This was followed by other tier-II and tier-III cities like Goa, Agra, Jaipur, Chennai, Bangalore, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Pune, Ahemdabad, Lucknow, Jaipur and Dehradun.
“A brutal rape case in Delhi and recent incident of Swiss woman in Madhya Pradesh, or to the young British woman who had jump out of the window in Agra to avoid a sexual attack has raised concerns about the safety of female travellers
to the country,” the industry body’s Secretary General, D.S Rawat said.
The crime in Delhi that took place in December last year and the woman’s subsequent death generated international attention. Releasing the ASSOCHAM (The survey The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry in India) on “Trends in Tourists inflow in the last three months” that participated by 1,200 tour operators from different cities, Rawat said, the industry has primarily been impacted due to deteriorating standards of safety and security.
“The in-bound foreign tourists have opted other Asian countries namely Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Philippines and Vietnam. The situation has been further aggravated by the advisory issued by various countries to their citizens
visiting India to be cautious and avoid India.”
The survey highlighted that from December 2012 onwards the inflows of female foreign tourists to the country have gone down by 35 per cent and the overall tourism being affected by 25 per cent. Nearly 72 per cent of the tour operators said that there have been a number of cancellations of booking taken place especially from female tourists in the last three months from countries mainly the United Kingdom, the United States of America, Canada and Australia.
According to Rawat, major tour operators also revealed that some tourists made inquiry whether it would be safe to travel in India and some have changed their mind about travelling to the country this year.
“Those who are determined to visit India are taking extra precautions and avoiding affected areas,” he said.
Travel agencies also routinely recommend specific safety measures for female tourists in India besides recommending that female travellers exercise vigilance and visit tourist spots within certain hours. According to Tourism Ministry’s data, in 2012 about 6.6 million international tourists visited India and the country earned US$17.74 billion.
The ministry has set the goal of increasing foreign tourist arrivals by 12 per cent a year so as to double foreign exchange earnings by 2016. Given the potential of the industry, Rawat suggested that security and safety be strengthened further at major tourist places and that a programme to sensitise the importance of tourism to the country and respect for tourist be continuously held across the country.
BERNAMA
