The Government may have been maintaining that the recent rape incidents have no adverse impact on the flow of foreign footfalls in India, a survey by the business chamber, ASSOCHAM, notes that arrival of women foreign tourists have declined by 35 per cent in the last three months.

The reasons attributed are falling levels of safety and security particularly among women besides continuous global economic slowdown.

Releasing the survey on ‘Trends in tourists inflow in the last three months’, on Saturday the ASSOCHAM Secretary General, DS Rawat said, “The industry has primarily been impacted due to deteriorating standards of safety and security.”

He was referring to a brutal rape case in Delhi on December 16 last year and subsequent wave of protest across the country which was being closely followed by the world and recent incident of Swiss woman in Madhya Pradesh, and to the young British woman who had jumped out of the window in Agra.

Rawat noted that sexual attacks have raised concerns about the safety of female travelers to the country. The crime and the woman’s subsequent death generated international attention.

The in-bound foreign tourists have opted other Asian countries like Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Philippines, Vietnam etc, he added.

The situation has been further aggravated by the advisory issued by various countries to their citizens visiting India to be cautious and avoid India. For instance, soon after the December 16 gang-rape incident of a paramedical student in Delhi, the UK had issued the advisory asking its citizens to avoid central parts of the capital until the situation became clear.

The survey reveals that from December 2012 onwards the inflows of women foreign tourists to the country have gone down by 35 per cent and the overall tourism being affected by 25 per cent. “The reflection of Delhi gang-rape is now visible and more pronounced in other metros and large townships,” Rawat said.

He pointed out that last year over six lakh tourists had visited various tourists destinations such as Agra, Jaipur, Udaipur, Kashmir Valley, Goa, Mysore and Thiruvananthapuram in the month of winter seasons. But this season, there is substantial fall of tourist arrival in India compared to last year. It has seriously impacted the inflow of foreign tourist to the “Maha Khumbh”.

The survey also found that tourism industry has suffered the most in Delhi-NCR followed by other tier-II & tier-III cities like Goa, Agra, Jaipur etc. “The reflection of Delhi gang-rape is now visible and more pronounced in other metros and large townships, said Rawat.

As per survey, majority of the tour operators said, “Some tourists have e-mailed in asking whether it would be safe to travel and some have changed their mind about traveling to India this year. Those who are determined to visit India are taking extra precautions and avoiding affected areas.”

Taking serious note of the rape incidents particularly after the alleged attempt to assault the British woman in Agra, Tourism Minister K Chiranjeevi had taken up the matter with Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde and sought a proper system to ensure safety of tourists in the country.