With foreign tourists visiting India hiring personal security officers, private agencies have started offering customised services

Before her maiden trip to India a few months ago, Katherine Harris (name changed), aFINANCIALconsultant in the U.S., was apprehensive about her safety due to the news reports about rapes coming in from Delhi. To ensure that they have a safe and hassle-free vacation, Harris and her husband decided to hire a personal security man for themselves.
“It turned out to be a great idea as our security officer kept us away from men attempting to take my picture, uncomfortable stares, or people getting too close for comfort,” she said.
Like Harris, the number of foreign tourists hiring bouncers, personal security officers, and guards is increasing. Cashing in on the trend, many private security agencies are now offering customised services to foreign tourists.
“The trend started about two to three years ago and after getting queries from foreign tourists, we started promoting our services online,” said Anubhav Khiwani, CEO of Delhi-based Denetim Services.
“Our personal security officers are specifically trained and sensitised to their needs. Now we also get requests from tour operators to provide security to groups of tourists,” he said.
The services don’t come cheap; the cost of hiring a personal security officer for a day can be anything between Rs. 2,000 and Rs. 9,000, apart from the cost of their lodging and food during the trip.
He said a lot of queries come in from groups of students and backpackers.
“In such cases we try to charge less as a goodwill gesture,” he said.
“We provide different packages to foreigners to suit their budget, including unarmed bouncers, armed personal security officers, and four security officers for bigger groups,” said Shyam Singh, managing director of Secura Security.
“Of late, we are getting a lot of queries, mostly through emails,” he said.
Though not every tourist goes on to hire a security officer, most prefer some sort of an escort to keep them away from trouble. “Usually first-time travellers are more paranoid about safety. We don’t provide security guards, but ensure they get a male escort and that our drivers are verified,” said a south Delhi-based tour operator.
“The perception of India being unsafe is wrong, but tour operators get the most affected by such perception as sometimes visits by groups get cancelled,” said Subhash Goyal, president, Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO) and chairman of STIC Travel Group.
“We advise tourists to come through tour operators recognised by the IATO, who ensures that escorts go with them to all places and provide verified drivers,” Mr. Goyal said.