Category Archives: Associations

Members at a recent educational seminar conducted by Indiatourism Mumbai that was attended by more than 50 participants, requested to re-open e-visas for foreign tourists. NS Rathor, Chairman (Western Region), IATO, says, “Since international travellers start planning six months in advance, this would be the tight time to open up e-visas which would allow them to plan for the upcoming tourist season. It is important that our next steps are planned so that inbound tourism can open up smoothly and safely.”

To showcase the seriousness of the situation, the team at FHRAI visited New Delhi yesterday to meet Tourism Minister Prahlad Patel and Tourism Secretary Arvind Singh in person. Pradeep Shetty, Sr. Vice President, HRAWI, said, “We need urgent intervention and the MoT to back us. We have also been directly co-ordinating with the Finance Ministry and we have a meeting lined up with the MSME Ministry as well. We expect another 10-15% of hotels will not be able to open up after the second lockdown.”  

The Government of Gujarat has taken a decision to waive off property tax of hotels, resorts, restaurants and water parks for the period of 1 April, 2021 to 31 March, 2022. In addition to this the government has also decided to give waiver of fix charge in electricity bills to hotels, restaurants, resorts and water parks. The government has decided to levy electricity bill only on actual use of electricity. The decision was taken in a core committee meeting chaired by CM Vijay Rupani.

Jatinder Taneja, Vice Chairman, PATA India Chapter, has said that they will wait for some time before planning any activities for the association, and said that the Government should do the same. “They need to plan a roadmap for inbound tourism and probably they need more time for the same. Unless covid numbers are controlled and vaccination drive is fast we can’t expect international arrivals,” he added.

Liz Ortiguera, the CEO of PATA, has said that travel recovery is being driven by a complex range of factors, from varying market policies regarding virus control and containment to local citizens’ sentiments on vaccine take-up. “In the travel industry, a ‘duty of care’-based approach in delivering services and products will support a more sustainable recovery,” she explains.

Tour Operators Association of Telangana (TOAT), led by its President, Siraj Ahmed Ansari, has appealed to Srinivas Goud, Minister of Tourism, Telangana, seeking help from the government for revival and survival of the travel & tourism sector in the state. TOAT has raised several vital issues, including financial assistance for monthly allowance for employees of tourism and hospitality. TOAT is the first registered travel & tourism association of Telangana state, and one of the larger regional association with 400+ members.

Focused on driving more sustainable travel in South Asia, TOFT India has launched the internationally recognised Travelife programme to help drive up tour operation standards in India’s tourism sector. “All TOFT current DMC members will gain free access to a range of online tools that they can use,” said Ritu Makhija, Manager Sustainability at TOFT India.

A delegation led by TAAI AP and Telangana Chairman Nagesh Pampati met Telangana Tourism Minister, V. Srinivas Goud and submitted representation seeking a revival package for the tourism industry. The minister has assured government support in reviving the sector. The delegation urged the minister and sought his support to advise the banks to offer tourism industry interest-free loans upto Rs 25 Lakhs to be repaid back in the next three financial years.

Federation of Hotel & Restaurant Associations of India (FHRAI), in a letter to the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare (MoHFW), has suggested making necessary changes in the vaccination guidelines to include banquet halls in hotels as venues for mass immunization of the corporate sector. FHRAI has stated that banquet halls in hotels are better equipped than schools, colleges, or community halls for the purpose.

In a statement, IATO said that it is hugely disappointed that its request for rationalising GST and cascading impact it causes on the tourism industry was not even discussed in the GST Council meeting. The apex-inbound tourism association hoped that the government and GST council would sympathise and do its bit in providing relief to the tourism sector.