Skip to main content

Indian tourism's Real Friends - Israel , Russia and the UK after the Mumbai terror attack

On Nov 26th 2008 terrorists struck Bombay. 175 people died. The attack has had a bigger toll, tourism, business and perceptions. I just speaking to friends in India and they told me that the hotel industry is facing a lot of cancellations. Today I spoke to a friend who returned from a trip to Goa and Mumbai. She told me that hotels have had a lot of cancellations and the tourists who are still visiting are from Israel, Russia and the UK. Everyone has a right to worry about their safety but unfortunately that is the sentiment that terrorism seeks to achieve i.e change in human behavior. I am not sure how many years it will take to assure other tourists from USA, Europe and Asia to visit India again but till them the terrorists have won.

This made me reminiscence about  my visit to Sri Lanka last year. We went to Bentota in the south which is far away from the fighting in the North and East. The philospophy I adopted is that it is equally dangerous to cross the road in Washington DC as a pedestrian as it is to visit Sri Lanka. On the trip from the airport to Bentota  we passed by almost a gun toting soldier posted at every milestone. This may also have been because the SAARC conference that was scheduled to begin.   We enjoyed ourselves and met countless tourists from Europe and Asia but sadly no Americans.  Do you agree with this ? Should our culture change? Is this a big risk? Please share your opinion

Sri Lanka - Family Pics - July 2008

See article Money Not War will hurt Sri Lanka

CIA factbook on Sri Lanka

Comments

Anonymous said…
I went to Bentota in the south which is far away from the fighting in the North and East. The philospophy i adopted is that it is equally dangerous to cross the road in Washington DC as a pedestrian as it is to visit Sri Lanka.
thanks
Miami limo service

Popular posts from this blog

Warren Buffett’s Quiet Masterclass in Leadership: What He Really Values in People

SB Shashi Bellamkonda Nov 27, 2025 Warren Buffett's Quiet Masterclass in Leadership: What He Really Values in People Warren Buffett's November 10, 2025 letter is not a typical shareholder update. It is a 95-year-old legend passing the baton while quietly teaching the rest of us what actually matters in people and leadership. 1. Temperament first — everything else second "Greg is a great manager, a tireless worker, and an honest communicator… Many of our best managers coincidentally lived for some time in Omaha and developed a balanced outlook on both personal and business matters." No mention of Harvard MBAs or Goldman Sachs pedigrees. Buffett hires for emotional equilibrium and long-term thinking — Omaha just happens to be a reliable filter. 2. "We had differences but never had an argument...

The Planned Solo Economy

  We often view single parenthood through a lens of economic hardship. However, recent data suggests a significant shift that the market has largely ignored: the rise of the intentional single mother. 40% of all births in America are to unmarried women. And two, that America has the world’s highest rate of children living in single-parent households. Births to unmarried women aged 30 and up have increased by 140% in the last two decades, a period when teen births have fallen off a cliff. NPR's story on single motherhood spurred these thoughts.  The Shift from Circumstance to Choice Women over 30 are increasingly choosing single motherhood, supported by financial planning and reproductive technology. This isn't a distress category. It is a high-intent consumer segment making precise, high-stakes financial decisions. The Market Gap Despite this shift, our economic infrastructure remains optimized for dual-income households.  Real Estate: Mortgage underwriting and housing st...

A Childhood Tradition, Global Humor, and Why Laughter Might Be the Most Underrated Tool in Your Professional Kit but

  Do you still read the newspaper comics first, the way you did when you were eight? I do. Every morning, with my coffee, I flip (or scroll) straight to Dennis the Menace, Beetle Bailey, Popeye, and Blondie. In my home outside Washington D.C., these same four-panel worlds still make me chuckle out loud—exactly the way they did when I was a kid growing up in India in the 1980s and early 90s. Back then, the Sunday edition of The Times of India or The Hindu carried a full color comics page dominated by American syndicated strips.  Dennis was forever in the doghouse, Sarge was forever screaming at Beetle, Popeye was forever reaching for that can of spinach, and Dagwood was forever building those impossible sandwiches. Beside them sat the brilliant single-panel Amul ads—the mop-top girl with her utterly Indian topical wit—but almost everything else felt deliciously foreign and, somehow, universal at the same time. I don’t remember a single Indian-produced daily comic strip in those...