Expressing disatisfaction over the Budget ’16, Conrad Clifford, Regional Vice President, Asia Pacific, International Air Transport Association (IATA), said, “The budget had a minimal focus on aviation. We hope the government will do a better job with the National Civil Aviation Policy. While the NCAP is a step in the right direction, there are areas of concern, especially where it adds costs to the industry or where it deviates from well-established global standards. We hope the government will address three priority areas – retract the 2 per cent Regional Connectivity Fund levy, abandon the plan to auction traffic rights, and allow AERA to perform its functions independently by not enshrining any ‘Till’ for airport charges in the Policy document.”

Jyoti Kapur, President, ADTOI, says, “With the Finance Minister talking about old airstrips to be developed, we believe that it would result in boosting domestic and inbound tourism. With the Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat scheme, now in full swing the connectivity to remote areas will increase, and it looks like a positive approach for attracting tourists to destinations in India beyond just pilgrimage sites. Also, in the budget, the government has sanctioned a huge amount for developing infrastructure and Swacch Bharat, and we believe that this too will boost tourism within the country. Cleanliness is a huge issue in India and if that is tackled, it will do wonders for tourism. It is still to be seen how the government is going to initiate these programs. However, since nothing has been done about the taxes plaguing the industry, we are a bit disappointed. Domestic tourism in India is suffering despite the rupee being weak, owing to poor infrastructure, higher taxes and connectivity. While two of these things have been addressed, we would’ve been happier had the taxes been rationalised.

Reacting on the General Budget 2016-17, Bharat Malkani, President, FHRAI, said, “The hospitality industry has not been acknowledged in the budget. We reserve our further comments till we have evaluated the notifications of the Budget, which we understand will be out shortly.”  

Expressing disappointment over the General Budget 2016-17, Sarabjit Singh, Vice Chairman, FAITH, said, “It is disappointing to see that the Union Budget has overlooked the suggestions made by tourism and hospitality sector. The Government has looked at debt and dying sectors and it seems tourism industry will be considered only when the sector is dead. This sector  has been dying for the last one year and the Government’s negligence shows that it is not an important sector. The benefits given to the start up companies shows that we, the tour operators/travel agencies may have to wind up their businesses and set up new companies to avail benefits of the start-up sector if we need any kind of government support to grow the revenue from tourism. During the last one year, the industry has met all concerned in the Government policies and most of them have agreed that tourism needs extra flip and support like Export Sector in order to increase revenue in foreign exchange, but seems all efforts gone down the drain. Tourism export is the only segment where all State & Central Taxes are imposed.”

While presenting the General Budget 2016-17 in Lok Sabha, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said that ‘Ek Bharat Shrestha Bharat’ programme will be launched to link states and districts in an annual programme that connects people though exchanges in areas of language, trade, culture, travel and tourism. He added that to strengthen understanding of each other, it is proposed to create a closer engagement between states and districts in a structured manner.

Reacting to the Budget, Jayant Nadkarni, President, Business Aircraft Operators Association, said, Developing new airports is always good. But we already have many airports without much connectivity. For operations to commence, we need clarity on funding, taxation, duties, and incentives. These are yet to come together for the small aircraft sector in business aviation and in scheduled commuter flights to remote areas. The potential for growth clearly exists.

Malaysia is planning to extend e-tourist visa facility to Indian travellers in order to attract more tourists from the country. According to Dato Daljit Singh, Indian Community Relations Advisor to the Minister of Tourism and Culture, Malaysia, they are looking at drawing in 10 lakh Indian tourists this year. Last year, Malaysia recorded 7,22,141 tourists from India. He said that tourism sector contributes 12% to Malaysia’s GDP and India has always been an important market. Singh is also a member of the Tourism Malaysia Board of Directors, and said that the country is working on e-tourist visa for China and the facility may be offered to the India as well. “After we complete working with the Chinese government, as we are in the middle of the process, then we are also going to work with the Indian government on e-visa,” he said.   Source: PTI

Europamundo Vacations, owned by JTB (Japan Travel Bureau), one of the largest travel and tourism companies in the world, has introduced English guided tours from April this year to focus on Indian travellers and their requirements. In India, Europamundo will be represented by four tour operators— DPauls in Delhi, Guideline Travels in Mumbai,Travel Tours in Bangalore and Akbar Holidays. Europamundo brings in 84 different tours to Europe for the coming season with 3000 guaranteed departures.

Located in the capital city of Chhattisgarh, Courtyard by Marriott Raipur is the 14th property for the brand in India, and the second in the state, joining Courtyard by Marriott Bilaspur. The hotel has the largest guest suite in the city, at 699 square feet. The rates for the Deluxe rooms start at Rs. 5500 per night, while the Courtyard Suite is priced at Rs. 13000 per night. Speaking on the occasion of the launch, Neeraj Govil, Market Vice- President, South Asia, Marriott International Inc., said, “The business community in South Asia, specifically in India, is growing at an unprecedented rate and this community is looking at lodging options that combines comfort and value. Central India in particular is evolving at a rapid pace and we want to be a part of this growth story, Raipur is an upcoming business and MICE destination, making it a key player in the region. We believe our new property will efficiently cater to this growing business segment. As always, we are committed to providing great value to our customers, while bringing the best brands within the Marriott portfolio to the Indian markets.” Each of the 96 rooms and 12 suites feature high-speed wireless internet; LED TVs; a well-appointed work area with comfort lighting and ergonomic chairs, an iPod docking station; and a coffee machine. The suites offer visual alarms and notification devices for the door and phones. The property has a relaxing Spa, with two well-appointed therapy rooms to provide soothing spa treatments, affording guests much needed relaxation after a long day. The hotel is an ideal venue for corporate and social events.  The 425-square-metre ballroom can be divided into two function space to suit events of various sizes. …

Railway Minister, Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu, presented the Railway Budget 2016, and announced that in the next three months, Railways will open the e-ticketing facility to foreign debit/credit cards for foreign tourists and NRIs. In order to ensure hassle free travel for passengers bar coded tickets, scanners and access control on a pilot basis on major stations will be introduced to tackle the menace of ticketless travel. While there will be no hike in passenger fare, the budget entailed many new initiatives for the passengers. Prabhu said that Indian Railways intends to commence sale of tickets through hand held terminals for the benefit of the suburban and short distance travellers. IRCTC will also be extending e-catering services from existing 45 large stations to all 408 ‘A-1’ and ‘A’ class stations. It will also explore the possibility of making mandatory catering services optional in trains. Local cuisine of choice will be made available to passengers. Clean my Coach service on pan India basis is introduced, where a passenger can request cleaning of his/her coach/toilets on demand through SMS. The minister has also set a target of 30000 bio-toilets in the next financial year.