Terror strikes have temporary effect on tourist inflow

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Puducherry, May 28: : The terror strikes like the one in Jaipur have had a temporary effect on inflow of foreign tourists but the tourism department has been taking steps to ally fears of overseas travellers about their safety over such incidents, Union Tourism and Culture Minister Ambika Soni said on Wednesday.

"The recent blasts in Jaipur and earlier in Mumbai had temporary effect on people travelling... We have offices in 14 places globally and a strong website and we constantly update the department website to apprise the tourists of the fact that there was enough security for the people travelling in India," she told a press meet in Puducherry.

She said Australia had as a matter of information to its citizens asked them to abstain from travelling in four or five districts in Rajasthan.

"It is only an information the Australian citizens had from their country and it is for a temporary period," she said.

Stating that tourism industry played a crucial role in generating employment, she said it accounted for 8.9 per cent of the total job opportunities in the country which also earned higher foreign exchange revenue in view of increase in number of foreign tourists during 2007.

She said the Tourism Ministry had launched a new scheme "earn while you learn" to enable university students to get training in the career of tourist guides.

As many as 30,000 guides would be needed in the context of the Commonwealth Games slated for 2010 in New Delhi.