An encouraging budget for inbound tourism: IATO

Rajiv Mehra, Vice President, Indian Association of Tour Operators, (IATO), has said it’s encouraging that the Finance Minister spoke at length about tourism this time in the Budget. “She made a number of announcements including a hike in the Budget for tourism promotion by allocating Rs 2500 crore, making 100 more airports operational by 2024 and doubling the aircraft fleet to 1200. Most importantly, I am happy that the government announced more Tejas-like trains to iconic tourist destinations, which has been IATO’s demand and it will certainly boost tourism. The state governments will also have to play a major role in promoting tourism since the Centre will now provide grants if they develop a roadmap and financial plans for certain identified destinations. As far as road connectivity is concerned, which will benefit us, in the long run, is the introduction of the Chennai-Bengaluru and Delhi-Mumbai expressway, which would be ready by 2023,” he adds.