Women tourists afraid to visit India after Nirbhaya gang rape

Policymakers who formulate the policies with regard to tourism need to sit up and take notice that, while there has been a marginal increase in traffic of overseas tourists, it is a fact that women tourists are fighting shy of India. This could be attributed to the shocking Nirbhaya gang rape of 2012.
Government data has revealed how growth in women tourist arrivals has dropped from 11.6% in 2013 to 9.7% in 2014. The total foreign tourist arrivals, on the other hand, has increased by 10.2% in 2014 as compared to 2% the previous year.
This has been reported in timesofindia.indiatimes.com dated 22 March 2016.

Their fears are genuine because, because as per data of the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), there were 384 cases of crime against women tourists from overseas registered in 2014. The maximum number of cases were registered in Delhi (135), followed by Goa (66) and Uttar Pradesh (64). The corresponding NCRB data for previous years is not available. The ministry has already introduced a few measures to counter the impression that the country is dangerous for women travelers. One of these is a 24- hour multi-lingual helpline and deployment of tourist police at popular destinations. This helpline is available in 10 international languages that include Arabic, French, Japanese, Russian and Spanish. Moreover, the ministry has also issued guidelines to states to devise measures for better protect and safety of tourists. One of these is to popularize some tips for travelers like taking a picture of a taxi's number plate before boarding it.


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Drop in arrival of tourists to India affects foreign exchange earnings

The drop in arrival of foreign tourists to India has adversely affected the tourism trade and there is a drop in foreign exchange earnings. Based on the latest data released by the tourism ministry, it appears that foreign tourists do not see India as a good destination.
This has been reported in timesofindia.indiatimes.com dated 12 December 2015.

It is a fact that growth in foreign tourist arrivals has dropped to a two-year low of 4.5% with 7.1 million visiting India till November this year. This is seen in popular tourist spots like Goa, Delhi, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala. All of these have registered a drop in foreign tourist visits in 2014 as compared to the previous year.
As far as statistics go - Foreign tourist arrivals (FTAs) during the period January- November 2015 was 7.1 million with a growth of 4.5%. The corresponding figure in 2014 was 7.68 million with a growth of 10.2%.
As a result of this trend, foreign exchange earnings have dropped from USD 2023 million in 2014 to 1768.5 million reflecting a negative growth of 3.8%.
The worst part is that foreign exchange earnings in November 2015 registered a decline of a drastic 15.2% over November 2014 as compared to positive growth of 6.9% in November 2014 over November 2013. This is not a good sign and is bad news since this is India's peak tourist season.

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Taj Mahal in Agra attracts maximum foreign tourists

Based on records of Archaeological Survey of India, it can be safely stated that Taj Mahal in Agra had the maximum number of 6.48 lakh foreign visitors last year with percentage share of 23.1 per cent. This was followed by Agra Fort with 3.43 lakh visitors and a share of 12.3 per cent during 2014. The information was tabled in the Rajya Sabha.
This has been reported in zeenews.india.com dated 2 December 2015.

Moreover, in a written reply to a question, the Minister of State for Tourism Mahesh Sharma has indicated that the number of foreign tourist arrivals during May 2014 to October 2015 stood at 11.23 million.
Apart from Taj Mahal and Agra Fort, other favorites of tourists were Delhi's Qutab Minar which had 2.76 lakh foreign visitors while nearby Humayun Tomb attracted 2.56 lakh foreigners followed by Fatehpur Sikri in Agra with 2.31 lakh visitors and Red Fort in Delhi attracted 1.22 lakh foreign visitors.
The excavated remain at Sarnath had 88,173 tourists, Akbar's Tomb in Sikandra had 78,528 such visitors, while Western group of Temple at Khajuraho attracted 74,706 foreigners during 2014.

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Crisis for ‘Incredible India’ campaign - shortage of hotel rooms for tourists

The Union tourism ministry has admitted that the Incredible India campaign is facing a major crisis on the shortage of hotel rooms and this is a stumbling block towards increasing footfalls of foreign tourists.
Obviously, this is a hospitality hole that could disrupt plans to draw more foreign tourists to the country and, as an official has said – the ministry has been promoting India as a dream destination but, the growth of the hospitality industry has been extremely low over the past few years.
This has been reported in telegraphindia.com dated 8 October 2015.

The need of the hour is for states to adopt tourism-friendly policies in order to augment availability of hotel rooms. Therefore, the tourism ministry has asked states to adopt suitable policies. Some of these policies are to consider granting incentives like tax holidays and cheaper land to promote construction of new hotels.
Incidentally, India accounts for less than one per cent of the global tourist traffic. Among the 1,000 million who packed their bags and set off from their countries in 2014, only 7.6 million landed in India. In comparison, Singapore attracted around 0.9 per cent of the global tourist share and China for 6 per cent.
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This has been reported in zeenews.india.com dated 12 September 2015.

It was a four-coach and two of these derailed near a curve. The train was a tourist special chartered train and had been booked through IRCTC.
The site of the accident is in Himachal Pradesh and the cause of the accident was not immediately known. An inquiry had been ordered. This Kalka-Shimla Railway is a narrow gauge service and covers the mountainous route from Kalka to Shimla.
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Taj Mahal loses its sheen – number of foreign tourists drops drastically

Taj Mahal, the well-known tourism destination is no longer in the list of foreign tourists who are now preferring to visit it for short duration – reason being pestering by touts and lack on infrastructure. The latest figures of those who stay in Agra for two days or more has fallen drastically this year. It has plummeted by 32% when compared to figures of 2014.
This has been reported in timesofindia.indiatimes.com dated 2 September 2015.

It has been revealed by a Local Intelligence Unit that 53,113 foreigners stayed for more than one day in Agra between April and July in 2015. The corresponding figures for 2014 was 78,202. The reason is attributed to the prevailing tout culture apart from the generally shoddy tourism infrastructure.
Moreover, as per figures of the Archaeological Survey of India's (ASI), out of 3.02 lakh foreigners who visited the Taj between January and May this year, 1.6 lakh (53%) left the city the same day. In 2014, there were a total of 3.23 lakh tourists out of which 1.36 lakh (42%) went back on the same day.
There is no airport in Agra and tourists have to get down at Delhi and travel by road or rail to Agra. Obviously, the occupancy in Agra hotels has taken a beating and, unless these are resolved, Taj Mahal would drop out of sight of the itinerary of foreign tourists and that will adversely affect the economy of the region.
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This has been reported in timesofindia.indiatimes.com dated 25 July 2015.

Kerala, known as ‘God’s own country’ is one of India's best known international destinations but, it now stands at seventh position with 0.92 million visitors.
As per data released by the Union tourism ministry, there has been an overall increase in the number of foreign tourists to India – it has increased to 22.57 million in 2014 as compared to 19.95 million in 2013.
The five states that have topped the charts are Tamil Nadu (4.66 million), Maharashtra (4.39 million), Uttar Pradesh (2.91 million), Delhi (2.32 million) and Rajasthan (1.53 million visitors).
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The website contains information about hotels tours and flight schedules from cities like Beijing and Vladivostok. And there is a section on the reclusive nation's political ideology and photos of short-range missiles.
In spite of a restrictive travel ban due to the Ebola outbreak, North Korea has been trying to attract foreign tourists and their money. It has opened the Masik Pass ski area which is billed as the "most exotic ski resort on Earth" and offers surfing tours along the east coast.
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