UNION BUDGET DISAPPOINTS INDIAN TRAVEL & TOURISM INDUSTRY

UNION BUDGET

DISAPPOINTS INDIAN TRAVEL & TOURISM INDUSTRY

The union budget laid out budget proposals for enhancing rail, road, ports, metro lite infrastructure & PPP in buses, airports & ports including vista coaches in tourist routes, but lack of immediate support disappoints tourism industry in the country

The union budget 2021-22 laid out proposals for enhancing rail, road, ports, metro lite infrastructure & PPP in buses, airports & ports including vista coaches in tourist routes. These infrastructure measures may boost tourism over the long term but only once they are implemented. The measures to change the small companies capitalisation and turnover and support to the single-person company may boost the micro & small tourism entrepreneurs in boosting their organised state. The new agri infra cess will be a further dampener.

“Lack of immediate direct support in the budget has disappointed the Indian travel and tourism industry”, while infrastructure measure announced as budget announcements, may boost tourism over the long term, the opportunity for immediate support has regretfully been missed out,” stated Nakul Anand, Chairman-FAITH, the policy federation of all the national associations representing the complete tourism, travel and hospitality industry of India (ADTOI, ATOAI, FHRAI, HAI, IATO, ICPB, IHHA, ITTA, TAAI, TAFI) & cause partner AIRDA.

However, the tourism, travel & hospitality industry was looking at support for immediate and short-term measures for critical revival. This has not happened in the budget announcements.

FAITH had proposed a Nation-

Mr. Nakul Anand Chairman-FAITH

al Tourism Council of Chief Ministers headed by the PM along with the tourism minister and an immediate need for common industry status across the country for the complete tourism industry.

SEIS of 10% to all foreign exchange earning members in tourism should have been made applicable for 5 years to ensure a post-COVID recovery. The SEIS for 2020-2021 should have been released in

A Global Mice Bidding Fund was required to have been set up with ₹ 500 Crs to restart immediately and double India’s mice share.

There was a need for a Corpus of at least ₹ 2500 crores for a global branding budget to enable Sub Branding of three Tourism segments Indian MICE, Indian adventure, Indian Heritage under the Incredible India main brand to enhance each of these verticals’ global outreach.

To generate post-COVID corporate travel resumption it was required to incentive Indian corporates to undertake domestic mice (meetings, incentives, conferences & events) by offering a 200% weighted income tax expense.

A Natural & Cultural Heritage Restoration Fund should have been set up with a corpus of at least ₹ 2000 crores which would have restarted tourism post-COVID and encouraged sustainable and responsible development around each vertical of adventure tourism & cultural tourism.

Post-COVID, there was a requirement for a truly seamless tourist transportation experience by standardizing all tourism transportation taxes making them payable at a single point which will facilitate the ease of doing business.

To increase the intensity of high-quality hotel accommodation & Mice Infrastructure in India all hotels & mice venues across the country needed to be tagged as vital social infrastructure. This would have boosted hospitality Capex driven demand in the aftermath of the pandemic.

COVID has damaged the travel & tour intermediaries. It was critical to protect the business of Indian travel agents & tour operators and a structured mechanism was required to future secure travel agents’ payments to ensure that security for travel agents & operators’ survival.

FAITH Associations had been vigorously interacting with all Government Stakeholders with the hope to immediately pull Indian tourism out of the COVID recessionary conditions in the crisis of the century for tourism, travel & hospitality.

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