New Delhi, Feb 09: Indian tourism sector is expected to survive the shock of bird flu, currently posing threat to the tourism sector of South East Asian nation that had been battered by the SARS and low economic growth last year. ''We will not have any problems due the avian influenza as health standards in the country are such that this will never come to India,'' All India Tour Operators Association president Subhash Goyal said.
Similar views were echoed by World Tour and Travel Council chairman Lalit Suri.
''I think we will not lose business as no case has been reported so far. It will not affect us,'' he said.
In fact, those who wanted to visit countries like Thailand, Vietnam and China will now come to India, Suri said on an optimistic note.
''We have a mix of all the places like Thailand and Malaysia and our country is the nearest destination for those wanting to visit these countries,'' he added.
Suri said India had a sound infrastructure in place to attract tourists. ''When there was a SARS scare in other countries, out tourist inflow surged to three million. And this year we are expecting over 4 million tourist to visit the country, '' he said. Bureau Report