Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Terror Tourism..


A new face of tourism came into existence when Former Chief Minister VilasRao Deshmukh along with his son Ritesh and a renowned bollywood director Ram Gopal Varma went to visit the Hotel Taj after the 26th November terrorist attack. This audacity also cost him his job but it led to the beginning of a new era for tourism.


Tourism in history signifies, bringing you face to face with startling diversity - from different terrains and languages to a wealth of regional cultures.


But ironically, almost a year after the Mumbai terror attacks, what is now the most popular affair in Mumbai is "Terror Tourism". To put simply, it is a visit to those places which were attacked during the November 26-29, 2008 by Pakistani fidayeens, who made their ingress from the Arabian Sea.It is just not the foreigners who are keen about this affair but even the local Mumbaikars, who visit these places on weekends.


There are even guides to take you around these places explaining the attacks. Travel and tourism companies have started cashing in on the attacks. Till 2008 November, Gateway of India was the biggest tourist attraction in Mumbai but after 26/11 all tourists want to visit Taj Hotel site to get the details of the terror attacks. One needs to shell out approximately Rs 2,000 to take a look at the bullet marks at Nariman House or get an elaborate description of gunbattle at Cama Hospital and the three-day siege at Taj Hotel.


While international travel agents are also travelling to India to visit the Mumbai terror attacks site, many tourists think this kind of tourism should not be promoted.


Statistically, recent terrorist attacks have resulted in 15-20% decline in growth of tourism industry; on the other hand, terror tourism alone at Mumbai has contributed 5% to the sector.

Now, the call is on us whether to promote it or not!

10 comments:

Piyush said...

Nice n different post.
It was a totally unexpected subject!!!

Neha said...

Thanks Piyush..

Amresh Sinha said...

yeah nice post..Promote it to the fullest earn revenue frm it if u want..post it on the incredibl india website...there are two plain benefit from it:
1.Revenue and employment that too in dollars..we need that in our poor country.
2.It will keep us reminding of the fact that hw vulnerable we are to these attacks..and we need to be on our toes

Neha said...

yeah..thnx Amresh...
but I think this is my place..not some monetizing site..I dont like making money out of this...
Thanks for ur suggestions!!

vivek... said...

nice way of raising the issue. I myself have visited those places but never thought it this way.Well the curiosity is there but it should not be taken as an opportunity to cash in. We all do condemn it but the gravity of incident is known only to those who have suffered huge losses. 'Terror tourism' too needs to be condemned by all....

Amresh Sinha said...

i wasnt talking abt u i was talking abt the government i think u misunderstood it...

Neha said...

@Amresh...
may be..

Neha said...

@Vivek..
Exactly, if we will encourage the 'terror tourism', thn the underlying reason of it that is the terrorism would be lost!!

Amresh Sinha said...

c'mon guyz we indians are very hyppocrate....we ourselves will visit those places but will not want poor guide to make money..we will nt do anythng to curb terrorism but certainly raise our voices by taking moral upmanship in these elitist forums...its same hypocrisy which is shown in every field ..gimme a break..

vivek... said...

come on dude...adding 'we Indians' with being hypocrite is like giving other nations some uninvited favors..its everywhere..And yes, in the capacity of a common man, we can not do much to curb terrorism, but of course we can take a stand between what is right and what is wrong. And hence give moral support to those who sacrifice their lives saving our lives...

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