NEW DELHI: The government has advised state governments/UT administrations to set up tourist police stations at prominent tourist spots to ensure the security of foreign tourists, the Lok Sabha was informed today. In a written reply, Minister of State for Tourism Mahesh Sharma said the government did not have any assessment of the estimated loss to tourism sector due to continued violent activities of the Naxalites and Maosist groups in the country.
He said in order to ensure the security of foreign tourists, his Ministry has asked the state governments of Andhra Pradesh, Goa, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Jammu and Kashmir, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Punjan and Odisha to deploy tourist police in one form or the other. Replying to another question, Dr Sharma said looking at the increase in cases of swine flu in India, some countries like UK, Germany, France, Italy, Russia have advised their citizens to take precautions and preventive measure while travelling to the New Delhi. Ukraine has recommended its citizens to hold back travelling to India till the situation stabilises and consult medical institutions for vaccinations and other preventive measures before visiting the country. However, there is no effect in the inflow of tourists to India because of the epidemic.