Dengue may further decline tourists inflow: Assocham

New Delhi, Oct 5 (UNI) Raising concerns over the declining share of tourism in India's services exports, Industry body Assocham today said the situation might further be impacted by the ongoing menace of Dengue, if the disease is not curbed timely.

Tsunami in 2004, Mumbai floods, Avian Flu and cross country floods in 2005 did have a severe impact on country's total services exports in the past. It declined from 18.7 per cent in 2003-04 to 14.1 per cent in 2004-05 and subsequently to 12.9 per cent in 2005-06, it added.

If the current threat arising out of Dengue is not dealt with at war footings, the tourist arrivals in India during peak season of October 2006 to February 2007 will also witness a substantial fall, the industry body warned.

It also said that although software service exports (38.9 per cent), other business and professional services exports (35.6 per cent) continued to rise, the share of tourism sector in the total service exports declined 8.5 per cent during 2005-06.

Assocham suggested that the government needs to buckle-up and take instantaneous measures to get its act together to again make India attractive as the land of mixed cultures.

''A more rigorous approach to promote India as a tourist destination is a must, and if need be, should take lessons from Singapore and Malaysia in attaining global visibility,'' it said.

The chamber found that Dengue fever, if persists for even a little more longer, will have large possibilities to dampen mass tourists arrivals in India.

Travel and Tourism sector had contributed a major 12.9 per cent to toal services exports followed by transportation (10.4 per cent), insurance (1.7 per cent), Government not included elsewhere (GNIE) (0.5 per cent), software (38.9 per cent) and miscellaneous (35.6 per cent) to India's total services exports to the world during 2005-06.

Assocham pointed out that tourism earning reflecting both business and leisure travel, though continued with its buoyancy, witnessed since 2003-04 fiscal, have declined in its growth rate.

Though the travel payments increased from 5.5 billion dollar in 2004-05 to 6.4 billion dollar in 2005-06, signifying rising business and leisure travel in consonance with growing merchandise and services trade and disposable incomes of residents in an environment of liberalised payments regime, it is not reflected in the growth of arrivals in India, which has undergone a huge decline from a magnificent 29.6 per cent in 2004-05 to only 11.4 per cent in 2005-06.

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