THE MOOD surrounding India’s festive season has been dampened by recent travel advisories issued by the US, UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, with these countries warning against terror threats.
Indian tourism minister Subodh Kant Sahai has called the advisories “scaremongering”, while inbound operators TTG Asia e-Daily spoke to were worried, but have not seen any cancellations so far.
However, they said the advisories could generate unnecessary concern among foreign tourists, pushing down the number of arrivals in what are usually the high-season winter months.
Arjun Sharma, managing director, Le Passage to India, said: “It is surprising that in the absence of any real or perceived terror threat, several governments have issued such irresponsible advisories as it impacts the livelihood of so many people employed by the industry; in fact it can affect the economy.
“I am happy that our tourism ministry has reacted vociferously against this move and hope they will be able to influence these countries to withdraw. Or else we may see a fall in winter bookings.”
Rakesh Ramnani, director – leisure of Vensimal World Travel, said: “This kind of panic is unfounded, and may lead tourists to choose Thailand or China as alternative destinations”.
Inbound travel to India grew 10 per cent year-on-year from January to August, compared to 3.4 million arrivals in 2010. The US and UK are key source markets for India for both leisure and business travellers.
