FTC study taking aim at online marketing of booze and kids

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) plans this summer to recommend ways that the alcoholic beverage industry can better protect underage viewers from seeing its advertisements online.

Distillers, brewers and wineries pour millions of dollars into brand promotion on Twitter, Facebook and other social media, and industry critics contend they are not doing enough to prevent young consumers from receiving these messages.

“We’re doing a deep dive on how they’re using the Internet and social media,” said Janet Evans, a lawyer with the FTC, which is conducting a year-long study due to be released by early summer. “We’re focusing on underage exposure.”

She would not elaborate on any potential recommendations that might come out of the study, which began in April 2012.

The FTC is reviewing data from 14 big producers, Evans said, including Beam Inc, the maker of Jim Beam, Diageo Plc, home to Johnnie Walker, and Constellation Brands Inc, which makes Robert Mondavi and Ravenswood wines.

The FTC report “is something we take seriously and place at high priority,” said Karena Breslin, director for digital marketing at Constellation.

The FTC has made two requests for information since the study began, she said.

The regulatory agency has not said it intends to impose restrictions on liquor company social media advertising but it can make recommendations to the industry.

The FTC is empowered to file suit to ensure consumers are protected from deceptive marketing practices, Evans said, but she stressed that studies of this nature are meant to promote better self-regulation, not provide a basis for a case.

Executives say alcohol makers and distributors voluntarily adhere to the same industry-set standard for marketing to underage viewers on social media sites that the industry set for its ads on TV and other medium. That requires that at least 71.6 percent of an audience consists of adults 21 and older.

“No one in their right mind would want to advertise to people who can’t legally buy their product,” said Frank Coleman, senior vice president for Distilled Spirits Council of the United States (DISCUS), the trade group that sets the industry’s advertising codes.

In June 2011, DISCUS revised its code upwards to 71.6 percent from 70 percent, after the FTC recommended it review the standard to better reflect U.S. Census population data.

Industry critics, including David Jernigen, director of the Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth at Johns Hopkins University, and Sarah Mart, research director of the advocacy group Alcohol Justice, contend the industry didn’t go far enough and should raise the standard further.

Jernigen says it needs to be at least 85 percent to effectively protect youth, so there would be no more than 15 percent exposure to the underage drinking population.

“The industry says its self-regulating but it’s ineffective and social media opens up a whole new set of problems because their ads are everywhere,” said Sarah Mart, research director for the San Rafael, Calif.-based group Alcohol Justice.

The industry group’s Coleman said the group now requires members to install age-checking tools via instant-messaging as a gateway to Twitter feeds and other branded Web platforms that ask the user for a birth date before admitting them.

In the first nine months of 2012, beer, wine and spirits manufacturers’ spent an estimated $ 35 million for paid Web display advertising, but industry executives estimate many millions more were spent on Web site creation, video production for platforms like Google’s YouTube and social media marketing efforts.

“We’ve significantly adjusted more money to digital for online video, Web sites, Facebook and Twitter content,” said Kevin George, global chief marketing officer for Jim Beam, which he says spends 30 percent of its media spend for online outlets, up from 10 percent in 2008.

Many companies are expanding their digital staff. Wine maker Constellation hired Breslin three years ago to initiate digital marketing and now has a team of five reporting to her.

Many alcoholic beverage companies flocked to Facebook because it requires users to post their birth dates when signing up. Last year Twitter partnered with Buddy Media to offer a more effective screening tool that sends a direct message to fans who click on a brand. The message sends the fan a link to a site that asks for date of birth, which has allowed Twitter to grab some more of the sector marketing. Salesforce.com bought Buddy Media last June, which is now folding the platform into its marketing cloud portfolio.

Health advocates and industry critics are crying foul. “Facebook and other interactive platforms are poorly monitored and not well age protected,” said Jernigen of Johns Hopkins University. “Anyone can say they’re 21 and click yes.”

(Reporting By Susan Zeidler; Editing by Ron Grover and Alden Bentley)

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PEOPLE's Music Critic: Why We're Upset About Beyoncé's Lip-Synching Drama

By Chuck Arnold

01/22/2013 at 08:40 PM EST

Did she lip-synch or didn't she?

That's the question surrounding Beyoncé after reports surfaced that she didn't sing "The Star-Spangled Banner" live at yesterday's presidential inauguration.

A spokesperson for the U.S. Marine Band, which backed the pop diva at the ceremony, said Tuesday that Mrs. Jay-Z decided to use a previously recorded vocal track before delivering the national anthem, but later on another spokesperson, this one for the Pentagon, said there was no way of knowing whether the 16-time Grammy winner was guilty of lip-synching or not.

Should it matter? Let's remember that Whitney Houston, in what is widely considered one of the best renditions of "The Star-Spangled Banner" of all time, didn't sing it live either at the 1991 Super Bowl.

There are all sorts of technical reasons why it can be challenging to perform a song as difficult as this on such a large scale, and there are many extenuating circumstances that could have played a role in any decision to lip-synch. Certainly no one is questioning whether Beyoncé – who, in removing her earpiece midway through, may have been experiencing audio problems – has the chops to sing it.

Lip-synching – or at least singing over pre-recorded vocal tracks – has long been acceptable for dance-driven artists like Madonna, Janet Jackson and Britney Spears, whose emphasis on intense, intricate choreography makes it hard to execute the moves fans have come to expect while also singing live. Huffing and puffing into the microphone or barely projecting for the sake of keeping it real just isn't gonna cut it. Of course, there have been other instances – such as Ashlee Simpson's 2004 Saturday Night Live debacle – where faking it crossed the line.

Surely there wouldn't be the same controversy about Beyoncé had she been hoofing across the stage performing "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)" on one of her tour stops. But this was the presidential inauguration, the national anthem, and there was no choreography involved.

Some things have to remain sacred, and for "the land of the free and the home of the brave," this was one of them.

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Flu season fuels debate over paid sick time laws

NEW YORK (AP) — Sniffling, groggy and afraid she had caught the flu, Diana Zavala dragged herself in to work anyway for a day she felt she couldn't afford to miss.

A school speech therapist who works as an independent contractor, she doesn't have paid sick days. So the mother of two reported to work and hoped for the best — and was aching, shivering and coughing by the end of the day. She stayed home the next day, then loaded up on medicine and returned to work.

"It's a balancing act" between physical health and financial well-being, she said.

An unusually early and vigorous flu season is drawing attention to a cause that has scored victories but also hit roadblocks in recent years: mandatory paid sick leave for a third of civilian workers — more than 40 million people — who don't have it.

Supporters and opponents are particularly watching New York City, where lawmakers are weighing a sick leave proposal amid a competitive mayoral race.

Pointing to a flu outbreak that the governor has called a public health emergency, dozens of doctors, nurses, lawmakers and activists — some in surgical masks — rallied Friday on the City Hall steps to call for passage of the measure, which has awaited a City Council vote for nearly three years. Two likely mayoral contenders have also pressed the point.

The flu spike is making people more aware of the argument for sick pay, said Ellen Bravo, executive director of Family Values at Work, which promotes paid sick time initiatives around the country. "There's people who say, 'OK, I get it — you don't want your server coughing on your food,'" she said.

Advocates have cast paid sick time as both a workforce issue akin to parental leave and "living wage" laws, and a public health priority.

But to some business owners, paid sick leave is an impractical and unfair burden for small operations. Critics also say the timing is bad, given the choppy economy and the hardships inflicted by Superstorm Sandy.

Michael Sinensky, an owner of seven bars and restaurants around the city, was against the sick time proposal before Sandy. And after the storm shut down four of his restaurants for days or weeks, costing hundreds of thousands of dollars that his insurers have yet to pay, "we're in survival mode."

"We're at the point, right now, where we cannot afford additional social initiatives," said Sinensky, whose roughly 500 employees switch shifts if they can't work, an arrangement that some restaurateurs say benefits workers because paid sick time wouldn't include tips.

Employees without sick days are more likely to go to work with a contagious illness, send an ill child to school or day care and use hospital emergency rooms for care, according to a 2010 survey by the University of Chicago's National Opinion Research Center. A 2011 study in the American Journal of Public Health estimated that a lack of sick time helped spread 5 million cases of flu-like illness during the 2009 swine flu outbreak.

To be sure, many employees entitled to sick time go to work ill anyway, out of dedication or at least a desire to project it. But the work-through-it ethic is shifting somewhat amid growing awareness about spreading sickness.

"Right now, where companies' incentives lie is butting right up against this concern over people coming into the workplace, infecting others and bringing productivity of a whole company down," said John A. Challenger, CEO of employer consulting firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas.

Paid sick day requirements are often popular in polls, but only four places have them: San Francisco, Seattle, Washington, D.C., and the state of Connecticut. The specific provisions vary.

Milwaukee voters approved a sick time requirement in 2008, but the state Legislature passed a law blocking it. Philadelphia's mayor vetoed a sick leave measure in 2011; lawmakers have since instituted a sick time requirement for businesses with city contracts. Voters rejected a paid sick day measure in Denver in 2011.

In New York, City Councilwoman Gale Brewer's proposal would require up to five paid sick days a year at businesses with at least five employees. It wouldn't include independent contractors, such as Zavala, who supports the idea nonetheless.

The idea boasts such supporters as feminist Gloria Steinem and "Sex and the City" actress Cynthia Nixon, as well as a majority of City Council members and a coalition of unions, women's groups and public health advocates. But it also faces influential opponents, including business groups, Mayor Michael Bloomberg and City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, who has virtually complete control over what matters come to a vote.

Quinn, who is expected to run for mayor, said she considers paid sick leave a worthy goal but doesn't think it would be wise to implement it in a sluggish economy. Two of her likely opponents, Public Advocate Bill de Blasio and Comptroller John Liu, have reiterated calls for paid sick leave in light of the flu season.

While the debate plays out, Emilio Palaguachi is recovering from the flu and looking for a job. The father of four was abruptly fired without explanation earlier this month from his job at a deli after taking a day off to go to a doctor, he said. His former employer couldn't be reached by telephone.

"I needed work," Palaguachi said after Friday's City Hall rally, but "I needed to see the doctor because I'm sick."

___

Associated Press writer Susan Haigh in Hartford, Conn., contributed to this report.

___

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LAPD grapples with responding to possible 'swatting' calls

Los Angeles police are recalibrating their response to some emergency calls in light of a series of prank "swatting" calls reporting violent incidents at the homes of celebrities such as Ashton Kutcher, Justin Bieber and now Chris Brown.

Officers will continue to respond immediately, in large numbers and with force if needed, to reports of crime at the homes of such VIPs, top Los Angeles Police Department officials said. But they are trying to warn officers more quickly in cases where an emergency call appears to have the hallmarks of swatting. Swatting is a prank call reporting a violent crime that results in a tactical police response that may include a SWAT team.

Deputy Chief Debra McCarthy, who oversees the LAPD's West Bureau, said that while the number of fake 911 calls about hostages or potential deadly violence at celebrities' homes is exceedingly low, officers are being cautioned to be aware of the possibility of swatting in a bid to limit injuries or death to officers or victims because of miscommunication or confusion.

"We haven't changed the way we respond, because in life and death situations you must respond always prepared, good or bad," McCarthy said. "But we want to be really careful it is not a prank and this isn't the home of some unsuspecting individual. We have to be extra vigilant because this is occurring."

On Monday, an LAPD lieutenant warned over the police radio that a domestic violence and possible shooting call at the Hollywood Hills home of Brown could be swatting.

The initial report came to the LAPD via TTY device, which is typically used by the deaf to type text over the telephone. The device has been used in other false calls alleging violent crimes at the homes of area celebrities.

Brown was not home at the time of the incident, which was reported shortly before 5 p.m., but people employed by the singer were at the home when the LAPD showed up, police said. Brown's parents arrived at the residence shortly after police, LAPD officials said.

The incident is the third in a series of pranks targeting celebrities.

In early October, Los Angeles police dispatched several units and tactical officers to Kutcher's home on Arrowhead Drive after they received a report through a TTY device from a woman who said she was hiding in a closet because there was a man with a gun inside the residence, according to sources familiar with the case.

Police responded and briefly held workers at gunpoint at the home before contacting the actor and determining it was a hoax.

A week later, Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies received a report claiming a gunman had fired shots at Bieber's house and was threatening to harm police when they showed up. The message also was received through a TTY device and sheriff's officials later determined that the call was a hoax and that the pop star was away on tour at the time of the incident.

The LAPD tracked the calls and in December arrested a 12-year-old boy who was charged last week by the Los Angeles County district attorney's office with three counts of making false threats stemming from phony police incidents at the Kutcher and Bieber residences.

But the swatting calls apparently began anew last week.

A Beverly Hills police SWAT team surrounded actor Tom Cruise's home Thursday after a report of shots fired. The next day, Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies responded to a call of a possible shooting at the former Malibu residence of the Kardashian-Jenner family.

Sheriff's spokesman Steve Whitmore said that while the department has not definitively determined that the incident, described as a shooting, involved swatting, it was "a definite possibility." He said the Sheriff's Department is also adjusting its response to reflect such prank calls.

"As we become more advanced, the Sheriff's Department is responding appropriately to each occurrence," Whitmore said. "We are getting better about identifying what is real and what is not."

As swatting incidents continue, Lt. Andrew Neiman said the LAPD is looking for ways to increase the consequences for those behind a prank that could be deadly and that is costly for the city while also diverting police and firefighters from real emergencies.

The department has approached the city attorney about pursuing civil remedies against the pranksters to recover the cost of the large responses. Chief Charlie Beck said the LAPD is also hoping California, as Michigan did last year, will tighten the law and penalties for such pranks.

"If there is anything that comes out of the interest in this as new technology emerges and abuse of new technology occurs, then we have to address that with new laws," Beck said.

"God forbid somebody gets severely injured or killed in an incident like this. I don't doubt the felony murder would apply. We would certainly try to do that."

Sheriff Lee Baca and a state senator are seeking to increase the penalties for swatting.

Under a proposed swatting bill by Sen. Ted Lieu (D-Torrance), if convicted the person making the false emergency report would be held liable for all costs associated with the response by law enforcement.

Lieu's bill also would make it easier to charge the perpetrator with a felony when someone gets hurt as a result of the prank call. Prosecutors would no longer have to show that the person knew injury or death would occur as a result of the false report. Those convicted could get as many as three years in prison if someone is injured.

andrew.blankstein@latimes.com

richard.winton@latimes.com

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IHT Rendezvous: Hong Kong Holiday Makeover, in Lights

Last month, just in time for Christmas, I wrote a piece about the elaborate, colorful building illuminations that decorate dozens of skyscrapers in Hong Kong this time of year.

The Lunar New Year – the highlight of the Chinese calendar – falls a few weeks after Christmas, so the lights usually start going up in the runup to Christmas, in late November, and stay up well into February.

Along the way, sometime in early January, they subtly change to adapt to the season.

Santa Clauses morph into Chinese money gods, snowflakes and stars change into symbols of fortune and happiness, and Chinese characters wishing good luck and wealth for the coming year replace the “Merry Christmas” wishes that were up in December.

The start of the Year of the Snake on Feb. 10 is now just weeks away, and so the changeover has now been completed on most of the city’s buildings. A few readers have asked me to explain – so here’s an update, with pictures. Can you spot the difference?

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No sympathy for Armstrong on social media

LONDON (Reuters) – Lance Armstrong’s televised doping confession has done nothing to restore his shattered reputation, a study of responses posted to the Twitter social media site showed.

“What was particularly noticeable in our analysis of the Armstrong revelation was the sheer lack of sympathy out there,” said Charlie Dundas of sports market research company Repucom.

“The tone of the discussion around the Oprah Winfrey interview highlighted the level of disappointment and anger that exists. It’s clear the public are far from ready to forgive Lance Armstrong,” he added.

In the interview, Armstrong admitted to using performance-enhancing drugs on his way to his seven Tour de France titles. The Texan also said he hoped a lifetime ban would one day be lifted to allow him to compete in events like marathons.

The Armstrong interview generated 1.9 million Twitter posts between January 14-20, Repucom said. America accounted for more than a quarter of these, with Australia the second most active nation on the site.

(Writing by Keith Weir, editing by Mark Meadows)

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Vera Wang Reveals Details of Michelle Kwan's Wedding Dress

By Cynthia Wang

01/21/2013 at 07:00 PM EST

Michelle Kwan and Clay Pell

Courtesy of Caitlin Maloney

Although she was a singles figure skater throughout her successful career, Michelle Kwan did have one steadfast partner on the ice – fashion designer Vera Wang.

"I wore so many skating dresses designed by her, whole skating shows and everything," Kwan, 32, tells PEOPLE. "I have a long relationship with her."

And that made picking a wedding dress designer a fairly easy decision.

For Kwan's Rhode Island nuptials on Jan. 19 to Clay Pell, 31, Wang put plenty of consideration into her creation.

"She is marrying someone whose family has a political history, and Michelle is living and working in Washington, D.C.," the designer says. "[The dress] had to have a certain dignity and a certain classicism, and I think it was a lot about a new way of looking at tradition."

So Wang created an ivory, strapless mermaid gown for Kwan, made with layers of silk organza and featuring lace appliqué.

"The fact that it's got an inordinate amount of handwork in terms of lace is really a tribute to the art of hand-piecing lace," Wang says. "There is a princess-slash-queenly level of sophistication and quiet without sacrificing a lot of detail."

To complement the formal wedding gown, Kwan asked Wang what she thought of designing a second dress for the reception. "She said, 'Yeah, I got it,' " Kwan says. "She said, 'First dance, yes, and then you've got to change into something else.' "

Her history with the skater was not lost on Wang. "I'm really very honored and very thrilled that a, Michelle has found the love of her life and b, that I am the one to dress her for that special day just as I did for world championships, national championships, and Olympics," she said. "It's just the ongoing saga of our friendship."

For more on Kwan's wedding, including photos and details from the ceremony, pick up a copy of next week's PEOPLE, on newsstands Friday

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Flu season fuels debate over paid sick time laws

NEW YORK (AP) — Sniffling, groggy and afraid she had caught the flu, Diana Zavala dragged herself in to work anyway for a day she felt she couldn't afford to miss.

A school speech therapist who works as an independent contractor, she doesn't have paid sick days. So the mother of two reported to work and hoped for the best — and was aching, shivering and coughing by the end of the day. She stayed home the next day, then loaded up on medicine and returned to work.

"It's a balancing act" between physical health and financial well-being, she said.

An unusually early and vigorous flu season is drawing attention to a cause that has scored victories but also hit roadblocks in recent years: mandatory paid sick leave for a third of civilian workers — more than 40 million people — who don't have it.

Supporters and opponents are particularly watching New York City, where lawmakers are weighing a sick leave proposal amid a competitive mayoral race.

Pointing to a flu outbreak that the governor has called a public health emergency, dozens of doctors, nurses, lawmakers and activists — some in surgical masks — rallied Friday on the City Hall steps to call for passage of the measure, which has awaited a City Council vote for nearly three years. Two likely mayoral contenders have also pressed the point.

The flu spike is making people more aware of the argument for sick pay, said Ellen Bravo, executive director of Family Values at Work, which promotes paid sick time initiatives around the country. "There's people who say, 'OK, I get it — you don't want your server coughing on your food,'" she said.

Advocates have cast paid sick time as both a workforce issue akin to parental leave and "living wage" laws, and a public health priority.

But to some business owners, paid sick leave is an impractical and unfair burden for small operations. Critics also say the timing is bad, given the choppy economy and the hardships inflicted by Superstorm Sandy.

Michael Sinensky, an owner of seven bars and restaurants around the city, was against the sick time proposal before Sandy. And after the storm shut down four of his restaurants for days or weeks, costing hundreds of thousands of dollars that his insurers have yet to pay, "we're in survival mode."

"We're at the point, right now, where we cannot afford additional social initiatives," said Sinensky, whose roughly 500 employees switch shifts if they can't work, an arrangement that some restaurateurs say benefits workers because paid sick time wouldn't include tips.

Employees without sick days are more likely to go to work with a contagious illness, send an ill child to school or day care and use hospital emergency rooms for care, according to a 2010 survey by the University of Chicago's National Opinion Research Center. A 2011 study in the American Journal of Public Health estimated that a lack of sick time helped spread 5 million cases of flu-like illness during the 2009 swine flu outbreak.

To be sure, many employees entitled to sick time go to work ill anyway, out of dedication or at least a desire to project it. But the work-through-it ethic is shifting somewhat amid growing awareness about spreading sickness.

"Right now, where companies' incentives lie is butting right up against this concern over people coming into the workplace, infecting others and bringing productivity of a whole company down," said John A. Challenger, CEO of employer consulting firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas.

Paid sick day requirements are often popular in polls, but only four places have them: San Francisco, Seattle, Washington, D.C., and the state of Connecticut. The specific provisions vary.

Milwaukee voters approved a sick time requirement in 2008, but the state Legislature passed a law blocking it. Philadelphia's mayor vetoed a sick leave measure in 2011; lawmakers have since instituted a sick time requirement for businesses with city contracts. Voters rejected a paid sick day measure in Denver in 2011.

In New York, City Councilwoman Gale Brewer's proposal would require up to five paid sick days a year at businesses with at least five employees. It wouldn't include independent contractors, such as Zavala, who supports the idea nonetheless.

The idea boasts such supporters as feminist Gloria Steinem and "Sex and the City" actress Cynthia Nixon, as well as a majority of City Council members and a coalition of unions, women's groups and public health advocates. But it also faces influential opponents, including business groups, Mayor Michael Bloomberg and City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, who has virtually complete control over what matters come to a vote.

Quinn, who is expected to run for mayor, said she considers paid sick leave a worthy goal but doesn't think it would be wise to implement it in a sluggish economy. Two of her likely opponents, Public Advocate Bill de Blasio and Comptroller John Liu, have reiterated calls for paid sick leave in light of the flu season.

While the debate plays out, Emilio Palaguachi is recovering from the flu and looking for a job. The father of four was abruptly fired without explanation earlier this month from his job at a deli after taking a day off to go to a doctor, he said. His former employer couldn't be reached by telephone.

"I needed work," Palaguachi said after Friday's City Hall rally, but "I needed to see the doctor because I'm sick."

___

Associated Press writer Susan Haigh in Hartford, Conn., contributed to this report.

___

Follow Jennifer Peltz at http://twitter.com/jennpeltz

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In quirk, some California residents have two state senators, others none

SACRAMENTO — Many state senators will serve constituents outside their official districts for the next two years to address a quirk caused by the redrawing of political boundaries in 2011.

When the legislative district maps were remade, some new districts overlapped old ones. Voters in only half of the 40 state Senate districts chose representatives last year. Some communities in the old districts were moved into new ones that will not have elections until 2014.

That has left nearly 4 million Californians without an elected representative in the Senate for the next two years, while others temporarily have two senators.

"That happens during every redistricting. It can't be helped," said Peter Yao, former chairman of the Citizens Redistricting Commission, created by voters to redraw legislative boundaries every 10 years. "It has happened more this time around because we dramatically moved the district lines."

Lawmakers last week approved a plan to have many senators temporarily provide constituent services for voters who would otherwise be unrepresented in California's upper house.

"The idea is to make sure that everyone has a place to turn for issues and that everyone has a voice even though you have this anomaly," said Mark Hedlund, a spokesman for Senate leader Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento).

The problem does not exist for the Assembly because all 80 districts are on the ballot every two years.

State Sen. Lou Correa (D-Santa Ana) of the 34th Senate District is looking forward to temporarily representing 1.3 million people, about 300,000 more than usual, as he takes on new areas including parts of Long Beach, Huntington Beach, Los Alamitos and Seal Beach.

"It's going to be a challenge, but I really enjoy reaching out to constituents," Correa said Monday. "I've never represented the beach before, so the first thing I am doing is getting acquainted with the California Coastal Commission."

Correa said he is getting two additional staffers to help serve the new areas.

Sen. Ted Lieu (D-Torrance) of the 28th state Senate District will serve as caretaker for parts of Santa Monica, Rancho Palos Verdes, Brentwood, West Hollywood and Westwood that would otherwise go two years without a representative.

He has begun attending community events in the new areas, which have a population of 387,000.

"I do wish I could double my staff, but everybody's going to have to work harder," Lieu said.

In the San Fernando Valley, Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Pacoima) of the 20th Senate District will serve parts of Studio City and Sherman Oaks.

Sen. Bill Emmerson (R-Hemet) of the 23rd Senate District will temporarily represent parts of Palm Springs, La Quinta and Idyllwild.

Steinberg, the 6th District senator, will temporarily serve 267,000 more residents in areas including parts of Elk Grove and West Sacramento.

patrick.mcgreevy@latimes.com

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India Ink: Will Tourism in India Be Affected by Delhi Gang Rape?

For the prospective traveler, India conjures up several images: the iconic Taj Mahal, the snow-covered peaks of the Himalayas, the bustling chaos of crowded cities, the gorgeous architecture of the temples of south India.

But these enchanting scenes might be overshadowed by another picture of India, one that is far grimmer.

While India attempts to enhance its image in the eyes of foreign tourists, a high-profile rape case in Delhi has raised concerns about the safety of female travelers to the country. On Dec.16, a 23-year-old woman was gang-raped and beaten on a moving bus by six people, while her male companion was brutally attacked. The crime and the woman’s subsequent death garnered international attention.

The media scrutiny comes after a solid year for Indian tourism. A year-end review by India’s Department of Tourism found that during the period January to November 2012 India saw approximately 5.9 million foreign tourists, an increase of about 6 percent from the same period in the previous year.

In 2012, the department introduced a number of initiatives aimed at improving the image of the country overseas. An ongoing advertising campaign called “Incredible India” has made its way to billboards across the world, in an attempt to create awareness and boost tourism in India.

In the days following the attack, while thousands poured out onto the streets of New Delhi to protest the rape, the embassies of the United States and Britain issued advisories advising their citizens to avoid parts of New Delhi. An advisory issued by the United States on Dec. 22 told American citizens to avoid the areas near India Gate and Rashtrapati Bhavan on Raisina Hill, where large demonstrations were being held to protest the government’s inaction on crimes against women. The notice further advised citizens to stay tuned to local newspapers for the latest news and warned that “demonstrations intended to be peaceful can turn violent.”

Officials in India greeted the advisories with disdain. Indian politicians from across party lines issued statements saying that they felt that the warnings were uncalled for. At the event to introduce the “Incredible India” calendar, the tourism secretary, Parvez Dewan, said that the travel advisories issued by the United States and the United Kingdom had not affected the flow of foreign tourists to the country.

“So far there has been no adverse impact on tourism. Since the advisory not a single cancellation of booking has taken place, according to tour operators,” he said.

Tour operators say that while some prospective visitors have raised concerns, there have not been any cancellations. “Some tourists have e-mailed in asking whether it would be safe to travel, but no one has said that they have changed their mind about traveling to India,” said Gour Kanjilal, the executive director of the Indian Association of Tour Operators. “A heinous act took place, and people have protested peacefully as is expected in a democracy.”

Parikshat Laxminarayan, managing director and co-founder of the tour agency Enchanting India, said his company had not received any cancellations over safety concerns. “We believe that India is still among the safest countries in the world for men and women and especially for travelers,” he said.

However, travel agencies routinely recommend specific safety measures for female tourists in India. Mr. Kanjilal said that tour operators always recommend that female travelers exercise vigilance and visit tourist spots within certain hours.

Arun Varma, the chief executive at Prime Travels, said that following the Delhi gang rape he had received some queries about safety from clients in the United States and Europe. “We issue, as part of our standard operating procedures, an advisory to clients not to have ladies travel alone late nights or venture out to areas that are not part of the itinerary unless accompanied by a male friend or a local trustworthy contact,” he said.

For some tourists, the recent events have only reaffirmed concerns about their safety in India. Alyse Andalman, a 26-year-old from Chicago, was en route to India to attend a wedding when she heard about the rape case. While she did not consider canceling her trip, she recalled being frightened by the reports of the case.

“Even Indian friends of mine warned me that, as a single female, there were certain things I should steer clear of due to safety concerns,” she said. “I had my guard up before I left, and this story verifies that I was justified in that regard.”

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