‘Hotel prices need to be globally competitive’

Rajan Sehgal, Chairman–Northern Region, TAAI, claimed that there is not much difference in air travel apart from the taxes on economy and business class being separate. However, he said, “Since the hotels will be subjected to 28 per cent tax for over Rs 5000 room rate, this will be a huge blow to the industry. We were expecting about 18 per cent, which has been applied, but for hotels in the Rs 2500-5000 range. Our aim is to get more foreign tourists to India, and not just domestic tourists, and by hiking up the main part of travel will not benefit the industry in any way. Our price needs to be competitive in comparison to the European market or other markets in Asia where the rates for such services are much lower.”