The number of foreign women tourists visiting India has slumped by 35% in the past three months following a spate of sex attacks that have made global headlines, a new survey has found.
The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham), quoted by the Bangkok Post, said overall tourist arrivals are down 25% year-on-year, with holidaymakers opting instead to visit other Asian countries such as Malaysia and Thailand.
The fatal gang-rape of a 23-year-old Indian student by six men on a bus in New Delhi in December sparked outrage at the country’s treatment of women, and since then there have been other widely reported attacks.
Such incidents have "raised concerns about the safety of female travellers to the country," said DS Rawat, secretary general at Assocham, which surveyed 1,200 tour operators from different cities.
The figures contradict monthly estimates compiled by the Indian tourism ministry, which found an increase in foreign tourists arriving in early 2013, although figures for March were not yet available.
February saw arrivals increase by 1.6% compared with last year, according to the ministry, still far lower than the 7.9% growth logged in February 2012.
Gour Kanjilal, executive director of the Indian Association of Tour Operators, said: "There is a decline whenever any such incident takes place. Tourism becomes the first casualty."
