India tourism in damage control after two tourist rapes

INDIA'S tourism industry is taking measures to reassure travellers India is safe following the rapes of two women tourists

Australians took more than 200,000 trips to India to see attractions such as the Taj Mahal last year. Picture: Supplied

A SPATE of sexual violence against women in India - including two tourists - has the country's tourism bosses on the front foot.

Late last year, mass protests erupted across the country following the fatal gang-rape of a 23-year-old student in New Delhi, a crime that brought simmering anger about the treatment of women in India to the surface.

In June, police arrested three men over the gang-rape of a US tourist who was attacked after she hitched a ride in a truck in Manali in the foothills of the Himalayas, and in July six men were sentenced to life imprisonment for raping a Swiss tourist in Madhya Pradesh.

The victim and her husband had been on a cycling tour and had set up camp near a forest in Datia district when the men assaulted them.

India's Secretary of Ministry of Tourism Parvez Dewan, who was in Australia last week for the Incredible India PATA Road Show, said the government is taking swift action to reassure foreigners India is not dangerous.

He says India is a safe destination in per capita terms, but advised visitors to stay away from desolate areas.

"We feel that two tourist rapes were two rapes too many," he says.

Despite the violence, Mr Dewan says the overall number of tourists to India grew by nearly 8 per cent in July and 6 per cent in August, partly boosted by films including Life of Pi and The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel.

"If the rapes hadn't taken place it might have grown by more," he says.

"The impact it had on us was to engage in a lot of soul searching. These two rapes jolted us."

The tourism industry launched an I Respect Women campaign in 10 languages.

Dewan is also championing a movement towards more women-only floors in 3 and 4-star hotels, as are common in many 5-star hotels.

Eleven out of 35 states in India have also introduced tourist police to help protect foreigners and there are plans for a 1800 toll-free number tourists can call if they are in trouble to be in place by March. The service will be manned by staff who speak the nine most popular languages among tourists.

Australians made more than 200,000 trips to India last year, Australian Bureau of Statistics figures show.

Earlier this month Air India recommenced restarted direct flights from Sydney and Melbourne to
Delhi for the first time in
16 years on state-of-the-art Dreamliner planes.

From Delhi passengers can connect to 12 other destinations throughout the country.

"We feel that the Dreamliner is a game changer," Dewan says. "It's a brand new, modern plane, it's a 12-hour flight and you don't have to get off anywhere."

The value of India's currency, the rupee, has also plummeted recentlyin the past couple of months, making the countrydestination more affordable. Dewan says savvy tourists can get rooms at palace hotels, including Neemarana Fort Palace near Delhi, from $55 a night.

Follow Angela Saurine on Twitter