Andaman tsunami tourism plan backfiring - industry

By Y.P. Rajesh

PORT BLAIR, India (Reuters) - A flood of low-budget tourists since the 2004 tsunami is hurting India's ecologically fragile Andaman and Nicobar islands and ruining plans to make it a top global destination, industry officials said.

It has drained scarce resources such as water, sparked excessive demand for airline tickets, hit hotel revenues and created a service culture which is insensitive to the needs of wealthier travellers, they said.

The problem, officials said, is a decision to allow all levels of government and state-run firms' workers to use their paid family and home leave travel allowances, awarded every two years, to fly if they want to visit the Andamans.

That means low wage state workers were visiting -- taking up the chance to fly for the first time and visit the far-off islands -- with trips previously restricted to senior level state employees.

The islands, known for their sparkling beaches, tropical forests, coral reefs, tribal cultures and emerald Indian Ocean waters, are 1,200 km from the mainland, and are closer to southeast Asia than India.

However, a move to exploit this to attract more visitors and boost the economy, badly hit by the tsunami has backfired as it has overburdened the isles without raising earnings correspondingly, tourism officials said.

"For these tourists, the destination does not matter. They come because they get to fly for the first time in their lives," said Mohamed H. Jadwet, head of the Andaman Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

"We also pushed for this after the tsunami but we never thought it would come to this."