Bangalore, March 30, 2013:
Foreign tourists inflow into India has registered a significant drop of 25% in the last three months that too in the busy tourists season after unfortunate rape incidents reported internally in India, according to quick random survey undertaken by ASSOCHAM Social Development Foundation (ASDF).
The heinous acts that took place specially in Delhi and Madhya Pradesh in December last year impacted the tourism industry not only in NCR region but also in other major cities like Chennai, Bangalore, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Pune, Ahemdabad, Lucknow, Jaipur, Dehradun and Agra. ASSOCHAM surveyed 1,200 tour operators from different cities and reveals that there is a fall in tourism business to the extent of 25%. The reasons attributed are falling levels of safety & security and continuous global economic slowdown.
Releasing the ASSOCHAM survey on “Trends in Tourists inflow in the last three months”, the ASSOCHAM Secretary General, Mr. D S 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 like Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, the 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 further highlights that from December 2012 onwards the inflows of women foreign tourists to the country have gone down by 35% and the overall tourism being affected by 25%. There has been adverse impact on tourism industry, reveals the ASSOCHAM. The reflection of Delhi gang rape is now visible and more pronounced in other metros and large townships, said Mr. Rawat.
Mr. Rawat pointed out that last year over six lakh tourists had visited various tourists destinations such as Agra, Jaipur, Udaipur, Kashmir valley, Goa, Mysore and Trivantapuram in the month of winter seasons. But this season, there is substantial fall of tourist arrival in India compared to last year. It has seriously impacted the inflow of foreign tourist to the “Maha Khumbh”.
“During last winter season, Goa, Jaipur, Agra, Kerala happened to be highly congested tourist spot but due to recent incidents in India, there has been substantial fall in the tourist traffic”, as reported by tourist companies and tour operators. The ASSOCHAM survey reveals that safety and security which has frightened the female tourists the most.
The survey found that tourism industry has suffered the most in Delhi-NCR followed by other tier-II & tier-III cities like Goa, Agra and Jaipur. The reflection of Delhi gang rape is now visible and more pronounced in other metros and large townships, said Mr. Rawat.
According to Tourism Ministry data, in 2012 about 6.6 million international tourist visited India and the country earned $17.74 billion. The ministry has set the goal of increasing foreign tourist arrivals by 12% a year so as to double foreign exchange earnings by 2016.
