The Indian tourism industry, by and large, has been impacted by the global recession and *eight incidents of terror strikes. It was known that the global financial crunch resulted in a drop of about 30 to 40 per cent in tourism, but the Mumbai terror attacks and international advisories warning against travelling to India, have made the situation worse. Travel advisories issued by countries have warned citizens against travelling not only to Mumbai, but the entire country.
According to Surendra Sodhi, Associate Vice President, Travel Corporation of India (TCI), the inbound business is impacted by about 20 – 25 per cent as compared to last year. “We are receiving cancellations from US, UK and Europe, while the Far East has not yet shown any response with zero cancellations. The worst hit is the leisure travel segment, especially groups,” said Sodhi.
Echoing similar sentiments, Zaheer Najeeb, Director, ATE Group of Companies said, “Most of our clients are avoiding visits to Mumbai on their trips. We have recorded about 20 per cent cancellations for the coming months’ bookings. |