Absolute reasonably, the number of foreign women tourists visiting India has dropped by 35 percent in the past three months following a almost overwhelming sex attacks that have made global headlines according to a survey.
Moreover, The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM) says overall tourist arrivals are down 25 percent year-on-year, with holidaymakers opting instead to visit other Asian countries such as Malaysia and Thailand.
Shockingly, the deadly gang-rape of a 23-year-old Indian student by six men on a bus in New Delhi in December ignited outrage over the country's treatment of women, and since then there have also been continuing widely reported attacks.
In fact, a Swiss cyclist was gang-raped in Madhya Pradesh last month, while a South Korean tourist was declared to be drugged and raped in the same state in January by the son of the owner of a hotel where she was staying.
According to D.S. Rawat, secretary general at ASSOCHAM, which surveyed 1,200 tour operators from different cities, these incidents have "raised concerns about the safety of female travellers to the country.
As a matter of fact, nearly 72 percent of tour operators reported a number of cancellations in the last three months usually a busy tourist season especially by female visitors from countries such as Canada, the United States and Australia. Rawat added that the downgrading standards of safety and security were the main reasons for the drop in tourists, although the global economic slowdown was also a factor.
As a concluding fact, the release from ASSOCHAM on Sunday that the situation has been further worsened by the advisory issued by various countries to their citizens visiting India to be cautious and avoid India. In fact, the survey comes as a sudden shock to government effort to boost the tourism industry in a period of act of falling economic growth.
This is perhaps high time that we realize the intensely negative impact of the security and safety factor for any travellers (National / International) which is hampering tourism in India and would likely to get worsened if not checked!
Let us regain our dominance in tourism and heritage which is only possible through winning of the best assurance of travellers safety.
Safety is to be assured because that comes first whether it's in India or anywhere else in the world.
(AW:Samrat Biswas)
