Tourists to India hiring bodyguards for protection

Western visitors and local business people join the super-rich in acquiring greater security after a series of violent attacks

Security personnel surround pop star Madonna during her visit to Mumbai in 2008. Photograph: Arko Datta/REUTERS

A growing number of Indians and tourists visiting the country are hiring bodyguards for protection after a series of violent attacks. Security agencies say business is booming as western visitors and local business people join celebrities and the super-rich in acquiring greater security.

"We get a lot of calls for personal security officers, often at 2 or 3am, from western business executives or people from west Asia," said Anubhav Khiwani, co-owner of Denetim Services, a newly established company in Delhi. "Once or twice a month a single woman or a holidaying family will also ask for a bodyguard."

Until now these bodyguards were mainly seen accompanying international celebrities. Last year three of Oprah Winfrey's escorts made news when they were picked up by police near Delhi for attacking photographers.

"The gang-rape of a physiotherapist in Delhi last December impacted the psyche of people across the world. A friend from Brazil, for instance, had to cancel her trip to India as her mother wouldn't let her go. So now we see two kinds of tourists, especially among women − those who feel that such things happen everywhere and don't worry about it, and those who are scared and want to avoid trouble," said Khiwani.

Shaleni Nigam, a 44-year-old Canadian tax accountant, used to feel safe travelling alone in India, but plans to hire a bodyguard for her next visit.

"What's worrying is that attacks on women seem to be taking place in routine situations − in a bus, in a hotel room, near a village," she said. "I know such attacks occur in other countries too, but it's a different world in India today than it was in the 1990s. A foreign visitor wasn't targeted in the same way."

Source:  http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/aug/23/tourists-to-india-hire-bodyguards

Foreign Tourists take Guard in India

After the recent spate of horrific, widely reported sexual crimes — from the Nirbhaya case in December last year to the rape of a Swiss tourist in March — foreign travellers are becoming rather incredulous about Incredible India.

Visitors are now coming armed not just with pointand-shoot cameras, but also bodyguards trained to do the same.

The last time 44-year-old Canadian-Indian Shaleni Nigam visited India was in 2008. She was confident then of travelling alone to visit her family in Kanpur and taking the train everywhere.

“But the gang rape in Delhi was terrifying and a couple of months ago, I read about the British tourist who had to jump out of her hotel window because the hotel manager was harassing her. That got me thinking about hiring a bodyguard for my trip this year,” says Nigam, who is looking for a female bodyguard.

Anuraag Singh, COO of security operations at Delhi’s Secura Security Solutions, says tourists are nervous enough to cough up around Rs 9,000 a day plus expenses for the services of an Englishspeaking licensed-to-shoot bodyguard.

Terror, isolated locales top fear factors Their fears range from terrorist attacks and cultural and religious minefields to hostile weather conditions and isolated locales. His company’s close protection officers are trained in special driving techniques, emergency first aid and etiquette.

Most of his clients are from the US and UK. “Many are high net-worth individuals who demand tight security services for their families, whether they are here for a destination wedding, a hiking trip to Ladakh, a visit to a fort in Jaipur or a beach vacation to Goa,” says Singh. “Though Goa is their favourite destination, it makes them especially jittery,” he adds.

Nimisha Ramesh, 27, who works with a Nevada-based IT firm, makes frequent trips to India, for both business and leisure.

“I don’t want to take any chances when I travel with a client, so I always take a bodyguard along. They are nervous because of the reports they have read about tourists being harassed,” says Ramesh.

Anubhav Khiwani, managing partner, Denetim Services in Gurgaon, says his clientele is mostly European. “If their itinerary has a lot of highway time, tourists prefer to have a bodyguard in the car, especially one who can converse in the local language and English,” says Khiwani.

While some clients only require the bodyguard to stay with them during the day, there are others who are so nervous that they book an extra room in their hotel for round-the-clock protection.

Khiwani who started his company earlier this year says tourists travelling to destinations in the north like the Himalayas, Agra and Jaipur are most anxious about security.

Some companies like Secura have gone the extra mile by tying up with tour companies. “Our bodyguard team includes local tourist experts,” says Singh.

Source: http://www.nagalandpost.com/ChannelNews/National/NationalNews.aspx?news=TkVXUzEwMDA0MzU1Mw%3D%3D-W9dDe%2BwZ%2FXs%3D

Safety concerns make foreign tourists take guard in India

After the recent spate of horrific, widely reported sexual crimes — from the Nirbhaya case in December last year to the rape of a Swiss tourist in March — foreign travellers are becoming rather incredulous about Incredible India. Visitors are now coming armed not just with point-and-shoot cameras, but also bodyguards trained to do the same.

The last time 44-year-old Canadian-Indian Shaleni Nigam visited India was in 2008. She was confident then of travelling alone to visit her family in Kanpur and travelling on trains across the country.

"But the gang rape in Delhi was terrifying and a couple of months ago, I read about the British tourist who had to jump out of her hotel window because the hotel manager was harassing her. That got me thinking of hiring a bodyguard for my trip this year," says Nigam, who is looking for a female bodyguard.

Anuraag Singh, COO of security operations at New Delhi-based Secura Security Solutions, says that tourists are nervous enough to cough up up to Rs 9,000 a day plus expenses for the services of an English-speaking licensed-to-shoot bodyguard.

Fear of terror, isolated locales

Their fears range from terrorist attacks and cultural and religious minefields to hostile weather conditions and isolated locales. His company's close protection officers are trained in special driving techniques, emergency first aid and etiquette.

Most of his clients are from the US and UK. "Many are high net-worth individuals (HNIs) who demand tight security services for their families, whether they are here for a destination wedding, a hiking trip to Ladakh, a visit to a fort in Jaipur, or a beach vacation to Goa," says Singh. "Though Goa is their favourite destination, it makes them especially jittery," he adds.

Nimisha Ramesh, 27, who works with a Nevada-based IT firm, makes frequent trips to India, for both business and leisure. "I don't want to take any chances when I travel with a client, so I always take a bodyguard along. They are nervous because of the reports they have read about tourists being harassed," says Ramesh.

Anubhav Khiwani, managing partner, Denetim Services in Gurgaon, says his bodyguard requests come mostly from Europeans. "If their itinerary has a lot of highway time, tourists prefer to have a bodyguard in the car, especially one who can converse in the local language and English," says Khiwani.

While some clients only require the bodyguard to stay with them during the day, there are others who are so nervous that they book an extra room in their hotel for round-the-clock protection. Khiwani who started his company earlier this year says that tourists travelling to destinations in the north like the Himalayas, Agra and Jaipur are most anxious about security. 
Some companies like Secura have gone the extra mile by tying up with tour companies. "Our bodyguard team includes local tourist experts," says Singh.  

    Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Safety-concerns-make-foreign-tourists-take-guard-in-India/articleshow/21889675.cms