Road blocks, bomb blasts and striking public transport are hardly the perfect settings for a relaxing holiday but tourists in India have seen all this and more in the past two months.

The Jaipur serial blasts and then the Gujjar agitation in the state, the civil unrest in the Darjeeling hills and the transporters' stir in Jammu and Kashmir have together left the tourism industry reeling.

Trade representatives say the coming winter season, when most foreign tourists visit India, may be a lean one"The country's image has been hit. When tourists are stranded, it has a domino effect that lasts a long time," Subhash Goyal, president of the Indian Association for Tour Operators (IATO), said. He added that the peak season could see a 20%-30% drop in advance bookings this year.

The US, UK and Australia have already issued advisories asking travellers to keep a low profile and avoid the eastern region, J&K and Rajasthan.Regarding the northeast and east India, the UK foreign office has said, "It is strongly recommended that if you intend to visit the region you should contact your hotel or lodgings beforehand to ensure there is no localized disruption. The disruption will also affect visitors to Sikkim."

Political protests in Darjeeling due to the indefinite strike by Gorkha Janamukti Morcha have left thousands stranded without transportation or accommodation. According to estimates, there are about 10,000 visitors to Darjeeling in a month. "There are 100% cancellations as news trickles about the nightmare that visitors are going through," a local tour operator said.

Road blockades and lack of public transport have greeted travellers in Siliguri and neighbouring areas. Though the administration has been making efforts to run additional trains and buses, the agitation has crippled the tourism industry.

Spurt in cancellation of hotel bookings

Tourists were at the mercy of hoteliers in Siliguri who were making brisk business for the past three days with almost all hotels in the north Bengal town booked. The rush for accommodation has forced people to share rooms or use conference halls for the night.

var RN = new String (Math.random()); var RNS = RN.substring (2,11); var b2 = ' '; if (doweshowbellyad==1) bellyad.innerHTML = b2; West Bengal ranks sixth in its share of foreign tourists with 99,829 visitors going to the state in 2006. The Dooars, Darjeeling and Kalimpong are popular hill resorts for Bengalis and Gujaratis during the summer and these have been hit the hardest. The indefinite strike by transporters in J&K has also left tourists there in a bind. Pilgrims visiting Vaishno Devi have been severely inconvenienced.

Around 60,000 pilgrims were stranded at the Jammu railway station while 70,000 faced a similar plight in Katra, the base camp for the holy cave shrine. Over 72,000 commercial vehicles went off the road in Jammu alone, according to an estimate by local tour operators.

Many tourists from Rajasthan, Gujarat and Maharashtra who had booked rooms in advance for late May and June have cancelled their bookings.

According to a senior J&K tourism official, the administration was running 200 additional trips (each bus trip accommodating 50 passengers) between Jammu and Katra and 20 trips between Srinagar and Jammu to alleviate the problems caused by the transport strike. The crisis deepened on Wednesday when traders' associations joined hands with transporters. This resulted in shutting down of shops and stores.