Mumbai attacks fail to deter tourists from Varanasi

VARANASI: The Mumbai terror attacks which claimed the lives of a number of foreigners has not dampened the spirit of tourists from abroad who long for a boat ride in the Ganges in the holy city of Varanasi.
    
"We are not afraid of terror attacks...our tourism itinerary can not be decided by terrorists," Paul Henson from Denmark says after enjoying the 'Subah-e-Banaras', the famous morning boat ride at the Varanasi ghats.
    
"We love India and has a special affection for this old spiritual city," he said.
    
Some tourists from the US and Canada said they were not wary of any threat as security has been tightened now. "We don't think the situation is dangerous now. Security across the country has been beefed up," one of them said.
    
Sandip Shukla, the India Tourism officer here, however, maintained that it would be too early to estimate the impact of the attack on the tourism industry. The actual fallout would be known only in the coming months, he said.
    
Dinesh Kumar, the Regional Tourist Officer (RTO) of Varanasi, said that the tourist inflow in to the city had increased at the rate of 8-9 per cent annually.
    
Of the 2.5 lakh foreign tourists who visited Varanasi last year, about half were from Japan, China, Tibet, Thailand, Korea, Sri Lanka and Myanmar, he said.
    
"Varanasi is as important a tourist destination as Jerusalem and Athens. It is always a different experience. I will come here again," says an American doctor.