Chikungunya-Dengue may affect tourism, aviation sectors

The outbreak of Chikungunya- Dengue in Delhi and many other places across India be dealt with on a war-footing both by the Centre and the state governments as the disease taking epidemic proportion besides affecting human life is also expected to result in a loss to the tourism and aviation industries.

As per an assessment, Delhi registers about 35 per cent of India's total foreign tourist influx as they use the national Capital as a transit during their travel. Delhi which attracts fairly large number of foreign tourists during the peak season set to begin from October every year should deal with the epidemic appropriately so that the people coming here face no threat.

In the winter, roughly 2.5-3 lakh foreign tourists visit the Golden triangle Circuit of Delhi-Agra-Jaipur, accounting for about 30 per cent of the total number of the inbound traffic in the country.    

With big number of Chikungunya- Dengue victims in Delhi being, the number of tourists visiting Jaipur, Udaipur, Jodhpur, Bikaner, Jaisalmer and other locations in the western state is coming down drastically as the state government itself is cautioning tourists against the disease.

With increasing cases of Chikungunya-Dengue and the kind of negative reaction on the tourists, the tourist traffic can drop drastically leaving a bruising impact on businesses such as hotels, airlines, taxi operators, restaurants etc. Many tour operators are now gearing up with precautionary steps for foreigners arriving in Delhi during the peak tourist season set to begin from October this year.

In all, the monthly foreign exchange earnings from the foreign tourists arrivals are between 1.5-two billion USD a month during the winter. While the arrivals get disbursed to Maharashtra, south India and Goa coasts, a large concentration is around the Golden triangle.

As per the data, the Percentage share of Foreign Tourist Arrivals (FTAs) in India during July, 2016 among the top 15 source countries was highest from Bangladesh (17.30%) followed by  USA (16.51%), UK (11.67%), Malaysia (3.49%), France (3.12%), Sri Lanka (2.94%), Canada (2.66%), China (2.32%), Germany (2.31%), Japan (2.20%), Australia (2.20%), Nepal (2.04%), Oman (2.04%), UAE (1.99%) and Pakistan (1.66%).

The Percentage share of  Foreign Tourist Arrivals (FTAs) in India during July, 2016 among the top 15 ports was highest at Delhi Airport (26.22%) followed by Mumbai Airport (17.04%), Chennai Airport (10.11%),  Haridaspur Land check post (9.82%), Bengaluru Airport (7.31%), Cochin Airport (5.14%), Hyderabad Airport (5.04%),Kolkata Airport (4.20%), Gede Rail (1.97%), Ahmadabad Airport (1.91%), Trivandrum Airport (1.91%), Tiruchirapalli Airport (1.55%), Attari-Wagah Land check post (1.09%), Amritsar Airport (0.97%) and Ghojadanga land check post (0.71%).

India is targeting to attract 1 per cent of world tourists by 2020 and about 2 per cent by 2025, banking heavily on India's strong tourism potential.