Rapes hit women tourist arrivals to India by 35 % in three months

The number of foreign women tourists, including Australians, visiting India has fallen by 35 per cent in the past three months following a number of sexual attacks that hit global headlines, according to a new survey.
 
According to The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM), overall tourist arrivals fell 25 per cent year-on-year, with holidaymakers opting instead to visit safer Asian countries such as Malaysia and Thailand.

A 23-year-old Indian student's brutal gang rape by six men on a New Delhi and her subsequent death had triggered outrage in the country last December and January this year. There have been several other reprehensible attacks since then.

After a South Korean tourist was drugged and raped in Madhya Pradesh in January by the son of the owner of a hotel where she was staying, a Swiss cyclist was gang-raped in Madhya Pradesh last month.

According to DS Rawat, secretary general at ASSOCHAM, which surveyed 1,200 tour operators from different cities, the incidents had "raised concerns about the safety of female travellers to the country".

Around 72 per cent of tour operators reported cancellations over the past three months - usually a busy tourist season - especially by female visitors from countries such as Australia, Canada and the US.

Rawat added, deteriorating standards of safety and security were the main reasons for the drop in tourists, as also the global economic slowdown, which too was a factor.

The trial of the six accused in the Swiss woman's gang rape in front of her husband in Madhya Pradesh as they camped overnight in a forest during a cross country cycle holiday, got under way on Saturday. Her  husband held back at gun-point as she was raped by each of them.

A British woman, Jessica Davies, was attacked in her hotel room in Agra, home of the Taj Mahal, one of India's most popular tourist destinations, by the hotel manager. The 32 year old dental hygienist from south-east London jumped from her second floor room window to escape.

There have also been reports of men being beaten up for objecting to gangs of young men sexually harassing young women in public.

Rawat said that during the last winter season, Goa, Jaipur, Agra, Kerala happened to be highly congested tourist spots but due to recent incidents in India, there had been substantial fall in the tourist traffic.

India's plummeting reputation as a safe tourist destination has dealt a severe blow to the government which had expected an increase in the number of tourists by 12 per cent this year as part of its plan to double foreign exchange earnings by 2016.

The number of foreign tourists stood at over 6 million last year which helped generate more than £ 10 billion for the country's economy.