The advisories issued by US, Canada, Australia, NZ and UK to their citizens on travel to India have not triggered cancellations but tour operators fear tours from mid-January could be affected. A majority of the tourists have booked their itinerary till the first week of January.
The five countries had recently issued advisories saying travelling to India might be risky during the festival season and New Delhi had reacted strongly. Industry sources said corporate travellers would do a rethink before planning their journey because companies often took such advisories seriously. However, "tourists and leisure travellers ignore such travel advisories unless something disastrous had already happened in India," said a tour operator.
"We have not received any cancellations or requests for cancellations because of the travel advisories," said another agent.
"Travel advisories are quite common. They will trigger cancellation only if they contain any specific warning. This is the first time the Indian government has reacted strongly about an advisory, which is a good sign. Countries will think twice before issuing another advisory with vague warnings next time," he said.
"MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions) category travel will be hit. Corporates often pay heed to such advisories. Only bookings in the new year will reflect the impact," he added.
Several travellers from the West are already touring the city. "A big group arrived two days ago from France. They have not heard about the advisory. But, they are also not bothered even though some countries have issued a warning," said another Tour operator.
However, there is a fear that if the advisories are not withdrawn they could impact plans being made by corporate companies to send their executives to India for meetings and conferences. Sometimes these advisories could be misleading. Many governments had issued advisories warning their citizens against travelling to India during the Kargil war though the conflict didn't affect normal life in other parts of the country.
TOI