Mahendra Vakharia, President, OTOAI, is disappointed with the Budget. He says, “It is very disappointing that this year’s Budget has not looked at the tourism industry in any area in spite of it being a subject very dear to the heart of our Prime Minister and in spite of the fact that the tourism industry is among the top five industries/sectors that contributes to the growth of the country’s GDP, creates employment, and generates foreign exchange. Truly, very sad and disappointing.”

Voicing his opinion of the Union Budget, Gurbaxish Singh Kohli, Interim President, FHRAI, said, “The industry expectations were high but the Union Budget has neglected us completely and we are disappointed yet again. While the Govt. wants to give impetus to hospitality and tourism and our. PM has envisioned big things for the sector, there is no mention except for the 17 tourist-friendly spots which we welcome. We were expecting reforms in rate slabs of GST, Input Tax Credit and a definitive step to boost the domestic and inbound traffic. Hospitality plays a vital role in the growth of the economy therefore this sector cannot be ignored. It is one of the biggest contributors to GDP, taxes, Foreign Exchange and most importantly in generating employment. The success of Incredible India lies in managing its hospitality and tourism right and requires policy support.”

Pronab Sarkar, President, IATO, shared that there was again no focus on tourism in Union Budget 2019-20, except that the government re-emphasised on 17 iconic sites being developed into world-class tourist destinations, which has been taken forward from the last Budget. “However, we welcome the mentioning of simplifying of GST process and absorbing of charges on digital transactions, which will encourage digital transactions. We also welcome the government’s plan to restructure the national highways programme to create a network of highways for better connectivity, upgradation of 125,000 km of roads in next 5 years at a cost of 802.5 billion rupee, more focus on Swachh Bharat mission and expansion of Railway suburban networks which will boost tourism as with increased infrastructure, better road connectivity and clean India, foreign tourists will be attracted.” He added, “We have been requesting the Government  for rationalizing of GST on tourism and hospitality, exemption of GST on foreign exchange earnings by the tour operators and treating tourism industry as deemed exporters and extending all benefits to the tourism industry as are being given to physical exports of goods and reduction, in Tourists Visa Fee so that we can compete with our neighbouring countries on foreign tourists arrivals, which will not only help bring in more foreign exchange but also create new jobs. However, this all remains pending and we hope our requests will be considered by the GST Council and Finance Ministry will consider the importance of tourism industry in employment generation and contribution in economic growth of the country.”

Sharing his views on the Union Budget, Subhash Goyal, Secretary General, FAITH, said, “As far as the Budget is concerned, there are very few things for tourism in it. One thing for the industry is inland waterways, which can also be used for tourism and second is development of iconic sites. Thirdly, the Government has again focused on aviation as well as on tax reduction for SMEs. However, overall there is no indication of any relief. The GST council might do something later, but nothing has been done for taxation on tourism to be five per cent and exemption on foreign exchange earnings. Overall, we are a little disappointed with the Budget. We still have to read the fine print, although from what we have seen, there are certain things regarding water and infrastructure, which are good. If they give infrastructure status to hotels and tour operators, it will be very good. What I don’t understand is to create employment, and the industry which gives the largest employment has not been given anything.”

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced the Union Budget today, where she shared that the Government will take steps to hike FDI cap in aviation. She also said that India will enter aircraft financing and leasing activities. For tourism, it was announced that the Government will build 17 iconic sites to encourage arrival of tourists in India. It was also mentioned that the GST process will be simplified. A massive railways modernisation programme will also be launched this year. Apart from that, the government will undertake strategic divestment of Air India and other PSUs this fiscal. They will also work towards consolidating non-finance central PSUs via mergers and raise foreign shareholding till maximum limit in PSUs. Government has set ₹1.05 lakh crore divestment target for Financial Year 2020. Government has decided to open Indian embassies and high commissions in countries where India doesn’t have a resident diplomatic mission, and under this scheme it has approved opening of 18 new embassies in Africa and will open four new embassies in 2019. Other highlights of the budget include—125,000 km of road to be upgraded over next 5 years at a cost of 802.5 billion rupees; expansion of Swachh Bharat mission to undertake sustainable sold waste management in every village; making of PAN card and Aadhar card interchangeable for ease of taxpayers.

According to the HVS ANAROCK India Hospitality Review 2018, revealed that over 2016 and 2017, new hotel signings in the country remained in the region of ~170 signings, but in 2018, the industry set a record with signing of 201 hotels containing 19,128 keys, signalling a strong growth in investor sentiment. The branded hotel sector comprises of a collection of around 50 hotel companies, each actively competing to find mind share with hotel owners & developers, who are further looking to either convert or build a new property.

The recently released global passenger traffic results for May by The International Air Transport Association (IATA), revealed that after a fall in domestic RPKs in April (down 2.0 per cent YoY), following the demise of Jet Airways, growth in the India market rebounded sharply in May, with RPKs now an even 6.0 per cent higher than a year ago. While it will take some time for the market to adjust to the recent shock, the longer-term outlook for domestic India traffic remains positive.

According to statistics from the Railway Yearbook, the The Indian Railways has contributed immensely to the growth of tourism in India and is among the world’s fourth largest railway network. During 2017-18, the Indian Railways has carried 8,286 million passengers as against 8,116 million in 2016-17. In 2015-16, this figure was 8107 million.

A recent whitepaper titled ‘Indian Tourism Infrastructure- Investment Opportunities & Challenges’ released by FICCI, reveals that employment generated through in 2017-18 was 81.1 million, which was almost 5 million more than what it was in 2016-17 (75.90 million). In 2015-16 employment created by tourism was 72.3 million, which was 69.5 million and 67.2 million in 2014-15 and 2013-14 respectively. The reports used data released by Ministry of Tourism (MOT), which was based on Tourism Satellite Account (TSA), which comprises of a set of 10 standard tables which are key to estimating the economic contribution of tourism in the economy. According to 3rd TSA, the share in employment generated by tourism increased from 12.19 in 2016-17 to 12.38 in 2017-18.

In an effort to ease the woes of tourists, the Ministry of Tourism is planning to launch a Twitter-based grievance redressal mechanism for tourists to file their complaints in real time. The ministry wants to replicate the External Affairs Ministry’s Twitter Seva Service, which was launched in 2016 with an aim to centralise and expedite its grievance redressal mechanism. Tourism Minister Prahlad Patel had a meeting with officials of Twitter this week and requested them to create a dedicated mechanism. The ministry is also likely to create a dedicated cell to address the issues raised by tourists on the handle so that they can be resolved within a given time frame. Union ministries such as the railways receive a lot of complaints from passengers on their Twitter handle and these are addressed by the divisional railway managers concerned as well as the public relation officers. It’s been said that Twitter has advised the ministry to first create a cell comprising personnel from the ministry. Currently, tourists can register their grievances on a 24×7 toll-free multi-lingual tourist helpline.