Speaking at the India Travel Awards 2025, Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, Union Minister, Tourism & Culture, said, “Tourism is not just about travel; it is a force for inclusive growth, sustainability, and cultural exchange. With public-private partnership and innovation, India can emerge as a global model where diversity, heritage, and modernity converge.” Shekhawat said the government has encouraged states to develop at least one destination to global standards, creating new circuits and spreading benefits across the nation. “Tourism today must be sustainable and responsible, as they are not a choice but the foundation of tomorrow’s tourism. India’s commitment to mission life ensures that travel becomes a force for protecting the environment, conserving heritage, wildlife, and empowering communities.”  

RX, organiser of Arabian Travel Market (ATM), World Travel Market (WTM), and WTM events in Cape Town and Sao Paulo, has announced the launch of WTM Spotlight in Saudi Arabia. The inaugural event is scheduled to take place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, from 29 September to 1 October 2026 at the Riyadh Front Exhibition & Convention Centre (RFECC). WTM Spotlight is a new brand and launch within the WTM portfolio, designed to focus on a specific market and create invaluable opportunities for regional and international exhibitors and visitors. Participants can engage in a mix of inbound and outbound conversations, forging meaningful connections with industry leaders and travel professionals while immersing themselves in the destination’s culture. Commenting on the announcement, Vasyl Zhygalo, Managing Director, Middle East and Emerging Markets, RX, said: “WTM Spotlight in Saudi Arabia represents an exciting new chapter for the WTM portfolio. By creating events that delve deeper into a specific market, we offer regional and international stakeholders, as well as travel professionals, an unparalleled opportunity to build essential relationships, gain richer insights, uncover future travel trends and discover innovative new ways to connect the world. Ultimately, these shared experiences and cultural insights lay the foundation for long-lasting, mutually beneficial relationships. “Saudi Arabia is the perfect location to launch this concept – its tourism sector is one of the most ambitious and fastest-growing in the world, and WTM Spotlight will play a pivotal role in supporting its development as a destination by connecting the world to Saudi, and Saudi to the world.” Saudi Arabia has undergone a significant transformation in tourism under Vision 2030, demonstrating the Kingdom’s ambitious plan to diversify its economy and position itself as a …

Dharmesh Advani, National General Secretary, ENTERPRISING TRAVEL AGENTS ASSOCIATION, says that the tourism industry is one of the largest contributors to employment and foreign exchange in India, but continues to be burdened with a high GST rate structure. “Our association’s key ask is for the government to rationalize GST on tourism-related services — particularly on hotels, airfares, and packaged tours — to make Indian tourism more competitive with other global destinations. A lower and uniform GST slab will not only encourage domestic travel but also attract more international tourists by making India a value-driven destination. The government should also consider input tax credit benefits across the tourism supply chain, which are currently restricted, leading to cost escalations. To help tourism flourish, we urge policymakers to adopt a long-term, sector-specific view of GST that acknowledges tourism as a driver of inclusive growth. Reducing GST and simplifying compliance will stimulate higher volumes of travel, resulting in greater tax collections overall and significant job creation.”    

Sanjeev Mehra, President, Skål International India, shares his perspective on the GST regime and says, “The proposed changes to GST, while positive, will not create a significant impact on the domestic and international tourism markets unless a more decisive step is taken. What our industry truly needs is one simplified GST slab for hospitality. This will bring India on par with other Asian destinations and make us more competitive globally.” He adds that post-pandemic, the domestic tourism market has grown manifold, showing an upward trend not only in travel by Indian citizens but also in attracting international guests. “A single GST slab will provide a much-needed boost to both inbound and domestic tourism, ensuring sustainable growth for the entire industry. Since travel and tourism directly contribute to the nation’s economic growth and create opportunities across various sectors, it is critical that the government prioritizes this reform. Moving towards a single GST structure for hospitality at the earliest will accelerate India’s journey towards becoming one of the world’s leading tourism destinations. The current proposals are a step in the right direction, but we must continue working towards this long-term goal for the benefit of the industry and the country,” Mehra adds.  

Speaking about the effects of the GST revision on the hotel sector, K Syama Raju, President, FHRAI, says, “We welcome the GST Council’s decision to simplify hotel room tariffs into two slabs of 5% and 12%. Reducing the tax on rooms up to ₹7,500 to 5% will make Indian hotels more affordable and attractive to both domestic and international travellers. This reform will directly boost tourism demand, increase occupancy, and encourage more spending across the hospitality value chain. As a sector that already contributes over 5% to India’s GDP and is among the largest job creators, this step will further strengthen our role in driving economic growth, generating employment for youth and women, and enhancing India’s global competitiveness. We see this as a progressive move that will help Indian tourism achieve its true potential and contribute significantly to the Government’s Vision 2047. While the hotel industry had been requesting a 5% slab with input tax credit (ITC), as is the practice in several other countries, we believe that even this initiative by the GST Council will benefit the hospitality sector substantially.”  

Sharing his views on the recently amended GST regime, Ravi Gosain, President, IATO, says, “The 5% GST on hotel room tariff of Rs 7,500 or equal is I believe a positive step for us, which will help the mid-segment tourists. Hotels will get affordable. However, keeping in mind the inflation, the threshold of Rs 7,500 should have ideally been increased to Rs 15,000 to be able to cover a wider network of travellers and not just the luxury segment. The 18% GST remains the same for hotel tariffs above Rs 7,500 so it won’t make any difference to the travellers.”  

Rajiv Mehra, General Secretary, FAITH, shared his views on the revised GST regime and said, “This reduction of GST to 5 percent from 12 percent fulfils a long-standing demand of both travel and hospitality sectors. It will not only boost demand but is also going to a huge section in the organised sector. We estimate that it will be net positive for the government as total tax collection will be equal or even higher as demand gets boosted. Coming on the heels of busy tourism season ahead, it will tremendously improve the prospects of tourism and Hospitality sector. In addition, it will lead to spike in gig hiring. We welcome and see this is as hugely positive for our sector as well as overall economy. Another demand was that on Restaurants irrespective whether it is located in a 5 star hotel or not the GST should be 5%. Also on tour operators who sell package in which all components are GST paid without any ITC, the GST should be payable on the deemed 10% mark up – 18% on this value.”  

Sharing her views on the revised GST, Arshdeep Anand, VP, ATOAI, says, “The latest GST reforms are expected to create a generally positive environment, particularly with FMCG prices likely to soften, bringing down operational overheads across industries. For adventure tourism, the impact is not direct since GST continues to be levied at 5% on packages and 18% on standalone activities. However, the sector may gain indirectly. Lower GST on fuel-related inputs and logistics & changes in GST on vehicles, may translate into more affordable transportation, while reduced FMCG and supply chain costs can ease expenses for hotels, camps, and homestays catering to travellers. Adventure operators could also see marginal savings on other consumables. Together, these factors may help reduce ancillary costs and make travel experiences more affordable, which has the potential to stimulate demand.”  

Commenting on the revised GST regime, Harmandeep Singh Anand, Managing Director, Jagsons Travels, said, “Premium travel by air will get more expensive by 6% now as the same has been raised from 12 to 18%. Vehicles above 1200cc will be more expensive, as the GST has been raised from 28 to 40%, so rental taxi services not availing input credit will end up increasing the rental cost for such vehicles. Totals to the lower category has been reduced from 12 – 5%. But input tax credit has been disallowed to them. They’ll be availing a lot of input services So, depending on the size and the type of hotel, the implication will be there, and base price will increase for the consumer. The GST input credit will be disallowed for smaller hotels, particularly, which are offering it at 7500 or lower. on the higher side, it remains 18%, so there would be no change on that front. Overall. If you look at the masses, a lot of services have been reduced or made nil tax particularly for health and life insurance, GST has been reduced from 18 to nil. So that gives a lot of relief.”  

Sharing his perspective on the impact on revised GST, Santosh Sharma, Founder & CEO, BookMyJet, says, “As far as private charters are concerned, GST on buying a private jet under private category has gone up from 28% to 40%. This would definitely discourage the individual & corporate houses who are deliberating to buy their private jet under private category. Thankfully, there’s no GST implication on people who are willing to buy aircraft under NSOP category where the tax is about 5%. However, flying has increased tremendously since covid. The increase in tax, which is from 12 to 18% on business travel, will definitely discourage people from flying but people in this category wouldn’t reduce their flying cos of this. Also, the way our economy is growing and the way HNIs and corporate honchos are flying, I don’t think this additional 6% tax will hit them, because they have no choice but to pay this. As far as, premium flying is concerned, these people were already paying taxes. And in most of the airports the charges have gone up drastically. And still people are flying. So, it is natural that travellers will feel disappointed that taxes have gone higher for the luxury segments, but they have no choice but to pay the extra amount and continue to fly. I don’t think this will impact anybody except people who wanted to buy a private jet in the private category who might now think of getting their aircraft under NSOP category.”