Foreigners queue up for the next flight home

Immediate effects of the terror attacks on the tourism industry were evident when a number of tourists planned their premature departure from Indian shores.

Travel agencies have recorded 30% of their clients, mostly foreigners, postponing their tour to the country. Some have already booked flight tickets to go back home.

Ann Slater, 28, wants to return to Britain as soon as possible. On Friday afternoon, Slater rushed to the international terminal of Mumbai airport at Sahar to cancel her flight to Bangkok. She was in tears when she could not locate the British High Commission response desk at the airport. “I do not know where they are. I do not know what to do,” she said.

Slater came to India last week with a friend and was put up in a budget hotel in Colaba. From Mumbai she was to leave for Bangkok. “I do not want to stay here; neither do I wish to travel to Bangkok which is also strife-torn,” she said.

Even Charles Birnes, 72, an Australian, has now decided to explore his family tree in India next year. Birnes has been in the country for the past two months to trace the places where his family members were born.

“My parents were born in India and my brothers were raised in Musoorie. I went to these places and came to Mumbai on Tuesday. However, I did not get much time to explore Mumbai as I was put up in Hotel Everest in Colaba that is just two lanes away from Taj Mahal Hotel. For the last two days, I did not venture out of the hotel for fear of life,” he said.  He was at Sahar to catch a Qantas Airways flight on Friday afternoon. “Terrorism is a global issue. May be I will come to India next year and stay in Mumbai for a longer period,” he said.

Rajesh Rateria, owner of Cirrus Travels  in Fort, said that most of his clients  from abroad have postponed their flights. “Most of the foreigners who are in Mumbai also booked immediate flights back to their countries,” he said.