Terror looms; 5 countries issue travel alert against India

New Delhi, Oct 25: After the US issued a travel advisory for its citizens intending to travel to India, other countries have also followed suit ahead of the festive season. Four other countries including UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand have issued advisories against travel to India. The reason for the same is the terror threat looming with various terror outfits intending to wreak havoc during the festive season.

The Indian government is not all pleased by this move and has commented that such advisories will hamper tourism to the country. Also, they consider that terrorism is being used as a mask to scare those wanting to visit India.

Union tourism minister Subodh Kant Sahay has been quoted as saying, "I have taken up this with the external affairs ministry and asked it to persuade these countries to withdraw the travel advisories immediately. This is nothing but scaremongering. Leave aside other parts of India, 100% booking is being reported from Jammu & Kashmir. If this isn't a sign of normalcy, what is?"

The travel advisories are sure to impact the tourism trade considerably, with fears of cancellation rate going up by 10-15%. With the negative advisories, the tourists are likely to flock to countries like Sri Lanka, China and Thailand.

To express their apprehension at the advisories issue, hoteliers and travel agents met with the Union Tourism Minister who later broached the matter with the foreign secretary. It is also understood that the matter will be discussed at the meeting of tourism ministers of G-20 countries.

OneIndia News