Category Archives: Associations

The Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI) is doing its bit to encourage the youth to join the industry. TAAI’s UP Chapter recently signed an MoU with the Department of Business Management, Dr. Rammanohar Lohia Avadh University in Ayodhya to offer training, placements and even internship to students of MBA in Tourism Management. The MoU has been signed for three years.

 A delegation of Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO), led by association President Pronab Sarkar, recently met Arvind Singh, the new Secretary – Tourism, Government of India. IATO welcomed him and took the opportunity to discuss some of the issues that have been plaguing the tourism sector, such as SEIS, MDA, etc. Secretary Singh assured the delegation of his intervention and positive action.

Andaman Association of Tour Operators (AATO) along with YCCI Supported by India Tourism,Portblair has launched the AATO Hotels and Resorts Standardisation Programme. 68 Hotels from Port Blair,37 from Swaraj Dweep Islands,21 from Shaheed Dweep Islands,and one hotel each from Baratang and Diglipur islands were Standardised . The occasion was graced by Shri S.K.Singh,IAS,Secretary Tourism as Chief Guest and Ms/ Moutoshi Naskar,Assistant Director,India Tourism,Portblair was Guest of honour.

In an event held in Mumbai yesterday, the Federation of Hotel & Restaurant Association of India (FHRAI) along with its western India regional association HRAWI felicitated State Tourism Minister Aaditya Thackeray for making Maharashtra the first and the only state to award its hospitality sector the industry status. Also present at the occasion were Valsa Nair, Principal Secretary, Tourism & Excise, Government of Maharashtra. Thackeray also spoke about the reduction of licences and enabling ease of doing business in the state. At the function, he said quite a few reforms are being rolled out. “Post COVID Maha Govt intends to allow restaurants 24/7 operations in Mumbai,” announced the Minister. Referring to the Union Budget, he had earlier tweeted that there is nothing for tourism “Neither in the budget, nor in the ₹20 lakh crore package announced earlier”.

While reacting on the Union Budget 2021-22,  which was announced today, Pronab Sarkar, President Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO) expressed his disappointment that “We had looked forward to this year’s Budget 2021-22  with lot of expectations for the tourism sector getting due recognition with some positive announcements by the Government by way of extending some relief and benefits to the tour operators based on the foreign exchange earnings and releasing of SEIS for 2019-20, which has been kept on hold for the tourism sector. “We were hopeful that our Government will understand the problems, the tourism industry is facing due to Covid-19 since March 2020 and struggling for survival and we hoped that some relief measures would be taken by the Government to help the highly stressed tourism sector. But to our dismay, there was even  no mention of tourism in the Union Budget announcements, inspite of the fact government re-assuring Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas aur Sabka Vishwas, but this is not in the case of tourism industry,” he said. In its recommendations made to the government, IATO has requested a) release of SEIS Scrips for 2019-20,  Extension of service exports from India scheme (SEIS) for the tourism industry for the next 5 years in the new foreign trade policy 2021-25  and increase SEIS percentage from 7% -10%, b) to exempt GST on foreign exchange earnings, c) Tourism industry to be treated as a deemed exporter at par with  IT  Industry  under  export of  services, d) Removal of cascading effect of GST on Tourism Industry, e) Withdrawal of tax collection at source (TCS) for the foreign tourists, f) Removal of GST on services provided outside India to foreign tourists, …

Vishwas Makhija, President, ATOAI said that the Budget was simply disappointing and further heartbreaking for the entire tourism industry. “The industry was looking forward to immediate support to survive and short term measures for critical revival but unfortunately, none of these was taken into consideration in the Budget announcements,” he said.  

Riaz Munshi, President, OTOAI said the budget was very disappointing for the tourism industry since there was no mention of anything for the industry. “We have suffered the most and we should have got at least some relief. Otherwise, it’s a good budget for the country, I don’t know why we were left out?” he said.  

JK Mohanty, CMD, Swosti Group, shared, “We are very disappointed with the Central Government’s budget, as nothing has been given to the hotel industry or the tourism fraternity, which employs almost 10% of the workforce and also to those living in the interiors of India, where no other industry can go and survive. Many hotels, restaurants and tour operators, have closed offices for good, and still nothing has been given to them.”

PP Khanna, President, ADTOI, said, “The tourism industry is really disappointed, especially after seeing over 30% unemployment. While the budget has proposals on railways, roads and ports, it is surprising how without any direct allocation of funds to MOT or state tourism boards, we would be able to follow the slogans like, Dekho Apna Desh, Incredible India and Ek Bharat , Shrestha Bharat? The industry was to be recognised post-COVID, which has not been done.”

Jyoti Mayal, President, TAAI, has commented, “Overall, the 2021 Budget is empowering people for greater economic freedom, sound infrastructure, metro, railways, airports, and highways. However, we are very disappointed that as travel and tourism has not got anything specifically, despite being a strong GDP contributor, as well as having a huge value chain going across all levels, which is going to be affected. We might see many shops closing down and people going out of business.” She added, “We expected much more than what was announced. However, we believe the Budget 2021 has focused more on spendings to enable economic growth through infrastructure roads and financial remedies. Travel, tourism and hospitality was completely neglected. As we await the fineprint, the direct taxes are not clear. “Further Dis-investment in AirIndia is still on the rocks and is expected to be completed this year. Clarity on the same is eagerly is awaited by us, the main stakeholder partner hereto. For Rail packages over the years this shall be a advantage since the Plan is to create a ‘future ready’ Railway system by 2030. Passenger Logistics shall have advantage in the circuits and infrastructure. “In Tourism we shall be able to attract for foreign tourist and give more opportunities to travellers. For passenger convenience and safety, the following measures are proposed—We will introduce the aesthetically designed Vista Dome LHB coach on tourist routes to give a better travel experience to passengers. The safety measures undertaken in the past few years have borne results. To further strengthen this effort, high density network and highly utilized network routes of Indian railways will be provided with an indigenously developed automatic train protection system that eliminates train …