After the Tsunami: Industry United and Focused on Rapid Recovery > News from National Associations in the Area > Sham Suri Reports from India India: Statement from Sham Suri, Secretary General, FHRAI "We are the Federation of Hotels and Restaurant Associations of India and represent the entire hospitality (hotels and restaurants) industry in the country. I wish to inform you the status of the impact of Tsunami waves which had affected parts of India." This is being described for each State, as India is geographically and administratively divided in various States. I may point out that the disastrous Tsunami waves had only affected southern coast of India and Andaman and Nicobar Islands in the Bay of Bengal. State of Tamil Nadu 8 hotels were affected in this State, 7 on the seashore areas of famous Mahabalipuram Beach near Chennai and one in Nagapatnam area which was the worst affected district in Tamil Nadu. These hotels were only partially damaged and some cottages and rooms closed to the seashore were submerged. Most of them have now been restored for normal business. No tourists, foreign or domestic, staying in these hotels was injured and there were no casualties among the tourists. It may be noted here that the waves affected these areas only at 9 AM and most of the guests were already out of the rooms for breakfast etc. I may add here that there were some tourists at Vivekanand Rock at Kanyakumari, the southern most tip of India. This is also known as Cape Comerin. Tourists had gone on this rock in the morning, but came back safely on the higher and safer areas and there were no injuries or casualties. Union Territory of Pondicherry Pondicherry is also on the southern coast of India close to Tamil Nadu. Here also only one hotel was affected and was partially damaged. It is being restored for normal business. No tourists were injured and there were no casualties among tourists. State of Kerala Kerala is on the western coast of India. Although there were some casualties among the population in Alleppey and Quilon districts but no hotels in these districts were damaged. No tourists were affected in any way. Hotels and tourist business was normal after the impact of the waves. State of Andhra Pradesh The costal regions of Andhra Pradesh were also reported as partially affected in the media reports. However, no hotel or tourists were affected in this States in any manner. State of Andaman and Nicobar Islands This State has many Islands and some of them are close to Indonesia, the epicenter of the earthquake. It is reported that there have been high casualties in the Nicobar Islands. However, this area is restricted for tourists and tourists are not allowed there for security reasons. In the Andaman’s, the biggest and the most populated group of islands, there was some damages to hotels due to earthquake but these were minor. The hotels are mostly in business. There were no casualties among tourists, foreign or domestic. The domestic airlines, Government owned Indian Airlines and private Jet Airways, mobilized some additional flights to evacuate those tourists who wanted to come back for emotional and security reasons. The situation in Andaman’s is normal as far as hotel and tourist business is concerned. Over all it may be reported that there was a very small damage to hotels and tourists in the entire country. This is contrary to the general impression carried in some media reports that the tidal waves affected all of southern and eastern coasts. This is not correct and the damage was very isolated and minor. However, hotels and tour operators are concerned about the future impact on tourist bookings and cancellations due to the impression created in the media and the sentiments of the travellers. _________________________________________________________ FEDERATION OF HOTEL & RESTAURANT ASSOCIATIONS OF INDIA B-82, 8th Floor, Himalaya House, Kasturba Gandhi Marg, New Delhi - 110 001 Phone : (011) - 23318781, 23318782, 23322634, 23322647, 23323770 Fax : (011) 23322645 Website : www.fhrai.com Email : fhrai@vsnl.com Copyright 2003 International Hotel & Restaurant Association. All rights reserved. International Hotel & Restaurant Association 51 rue Jean Jacques Rousseau 75001 Paris France Tel: 33 (0) 1 44 88 92 20 Fax: 33 (0) 1 44 88 92 30 www.ih-ra.com