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R/£ Tourists cancel trips to India after attacks
December 13, 2008 Edition 1
Many travellers are cancelling plans to visit India because of safety concerns following the Mumbai attacks. The US Department of State has issued a travel alert for India, and it's unclear how long it will take for tourism to the region to bounce back.
The US was the No. 1 source of foreign tourists to India in 2007, according to the Government of India's Bureau of Immigration, followed by visitors from the United Kingdom, Bangladesh, Canada and France. Last year, India was the 11th most visited international destination by US residents.
Pradip Kothari, president of Quick Travel Inc. in New Jersey, which has tours to several cities in India, said he has had some cancellations, mostly from leisure travellers. But others who were planning to see family and friends seem to be going ahead with their trips, he said.
Ronald Lewis (29) of Denver, had been planning a trip to India next year. "I'm avoiding Mumbai now due to the attacks," he said. "Nobody can predict attacks but we can at least travel smart."
The Mumbai attackers opened fire in several locations, including a train station, a hospital, two hotels, a Jewish centre and Cafe Leopold, a restaurant popular with tourists.
Travellers don't always react in predictable ways to terrorism. After the Madrid bombings in 2004, US travel to Spain increased 8% between 2004 and 2005. But Abraham Pizam, dean of the Rosen College of Hospitality Management at University of Central Florida, believes the impact of the Mumbai attacks on American tourists may be long-lasting, in part because events unfolded over several days when people were home for the holidays, watching the TV footage over and over.
Tourists are less likely to stay away if they feel that incidents like these are "limited and handled well by the authorities," he said. If the attacks are contained and not repeated, people will return to the destinations more quickly, he added. - Sapa-AP
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