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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.  

Ankur Bhatia, Executive Director, Bird Group, commented that India’s vaccination program may help in economic recovery. “However, the Indian economy is awaiting a return to normalcy in sectors such as travel and aviation. These sectors are now carrying most of the COVID-19 burden and have yet to start operating at anywhere near pre COVID-19 levels. They are also the sectors responsible for enormous job losses and consumption declines. We expect a full throttle vaccination programme to bring the long-awaited cheer to the sector,” he added.

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.”

Subhash Goyal, Secretary General, FAITH, has said that the tourism industry is totally disappointed from this Union Budget. “We had many expectations and it was a great opportunity lost for the government to revive this sector and save 30-40 million jobs which are at stake. Indirectly they have talked about increasing connectivity with road and railways infrastructure and ports. The 35,000 crores for vaccine and medical infrastructure enhancement could indirectly help medical tourism. Aim towards transparency in taxation is also good.”

Prahlad Singh Patel, Minister of State (I/C), Tourism & Culture, shared that the budget has announced the opening of wellness centres in urban as well as rural areas, which would boost wellness tourism in the country. “It is a budget of the country which will propagate the theme of Atmanirbhar Bharat further.”

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman while presenting the first paperless Budget of the country focused on building infrastructure but unfortunately had no mention on tourism and hospitality industry apart from introducing Vista Dome coaches on tourist routes. The tourism budget too has been reduced by almost 18 per cent, from Rs 2,499.33 crore in 2020 to Rs 2,032.04 crore in 2021. Apart from proposing tax exemption for aircraft leasing companies and plans to monetise AAI airports in tier-II and tier-III cities, the aviation industry too didn’t receive any relief. The FM announced Rs 1.10 lakh crore for outlay of Railways and capital expenditure along with a National Railway Plan for 2030. Additionally, more economic corridors are being planned to boost road infrastructure and tax holiday for startups has been extended by one year. The FM also announced tax exemption for LTC

IATO has finalised the list of contenders for the forthcoming election of the association on March 6. The contenders are Lally Mathews and Rajiv Mehra for President, EM Najeeb and Sarab Jit Singh for Senior VP, Lajpat Rai and Ravi Gosain for VP, Rajesh Mudgill and Rajnish Kaistha for Honorary Secretary, and Sunil Mishra and Viney Tyagi for Honorary Treasurer.

The State Department of Tourism, Kerala, has given great importance to the Pilgrim Tourism Circuit and it has conceived various projects to construct basic pilgrim amenities at many religious centres. Kerala Tourism Minister Kadakampally Surendran recently laid the foundation for the Rs3-crore pilgrim amenity centre at Madre De Deus Church, Vettukad.