By Xinhua,
Mumbai : With the United States and Australia stepping up travel alerts for the second time in three days, terrorists appear to have succeeded in hitting India’s tourism sector, The Times of India reported on Monday.
According to the travel industry, travel alerts have an immediate and negative impact on tourism and business travel in the country.
“We were worried about the economic slowdown and its impact on the tourism industry but this is a direct attack on our industry as it has targeted hotels and foreigners,” said Indian Association of Tour Operators President Vijay Thakur.
“This is the peak period for the tourism sector and we were hoping business would pick up in a month. But now we don’t think that might happen. It is too early to say how big an impact it will have but it definitely looks like the sector will be hit badly,” he added.
In its advisory, the U.S. state department pointed out that the attacks had “targeted American citizens and other westerners for the first time and tragically demonstrate that even in five-star luxury hotels, security is not equipped to deter such attacks”.
The advisory added that U.S. citizens should take into account this “new reality” and exercise caution when visiting India. The travel alert said that in the aftermath of the attacks, citizens must recognize that it may be some time before all public infrastructure and services return to normal. Warning its citizens to remain vigilant, the advisory said, “Emotions are running high and there are possibilities of demonstrations which could turn violent.”
Australia has also taken a far more serious view of the attacks, advising citizens to reconsider travel to India. “The Mumbai attacks show terrorists in India are deliberately targeting westerners. Further attacks cannot be ruled out. These attacks could take place at any time, anywhere, including in places frequented by foreigners. You should take particular care to avoid places known to be terrorist targets,” the alert said.
According to the official death toll from the Wednesday’s terrorist attacks in Mumbai, 195 people were killed and over 300 injured. Among the dead are 26 foreigners. The foreigners killed included eight Israelis, five Americans, two French nationals, two Australians, two Canadians, a German, a Japanese, a British Cypriot, an Italian, a Singaporean, a Thai and a Mauritian.