Officials estimate about 200,000 domestic and international tourists canceled or postponed their trip to the Taj Mahal in the past two weeks, one of the world’s most popular tourist attractions. “There has been a 60 percent decline in visitor footfalls in December this year,” said Dinesh Kumar, a police inspector overseeing a special tourist police station near the Taj Mahal who has access to visitor data. A group of European tourists traveling in a group across India said they now planned to cut short their 20-day trip. The Taj Mahal, located in the town of Agra, attracts more than 6.5 million tourists every year, generating nearly US$14 million annually from entrance fees. “Blocking the Internet has affected travel and tourism in Agra by about 50-60 percent,” said Sandeep Arora, president of the Agra Tourism Development Foundation, which groups more than 250 tour operators, hotels and guides.

Source: Taipei Times December 29, 2019 15:56 UTC