Tag Archives: Pronab Sarkar

Rajiv Mehra, President, IATO and Pronab Sarkar, Immediate Past President, IATO met with Nirmala Sitharaman, Finance Minister, in her office to thank her for the recent announcements for revival of tourism and also to seek support from the government on issues like SEIS, TCS, GST, ECLGS and export industry status. A communication from IATO mentioned that the meeting was historic and fruitful. On issue of ECLGS, she said that revised rules and guidelines are being issued to the banks. On the other issues raised by the IATO representatives, she gave a very patient hearing and assured to look into their suggestions/recommendations favourably based on its merit.

 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.

In a letter to all its members, the President of IATO has said that inbound tourism is not going to start in 2020 in the absence of a vaccination. Pronab Sarkar in the letter also said that the association seeks ideas from members on how they look at survival in individual capacity if there is no support from the Government. For the learning of other members from these ideas, IATO is looking forward to suggestions from everyone. Once inputs are received, IATO will call an all members Zoom meeting for members’ inputs and discuss the way forward. The association will communicate the date and time of members Webinar once it receives inputs and ideas by Wednesday, 27th May 2020 evening.

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.”

Yogendra Tripathi, the newly-appointed Secretary, Ministry of Tourism, Government of India, marked his presence at the special luncheon organised by Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO) to bid farewell to Rashmi Verma, Former Secretary, Tourism on her superannuation from the post. Pronab Sarkar, President, IATO, thanked Verma for her support and welcomed Tripathi on behalf of the association. Addressing the members, Tripathi said that he is aware of the contributions of his predecessor for the industry and is hopeful to take the industry voice to the government in the same manner. “There are always unresolved issues, as well as new problems and agendas for the industry. I believe that the Tourism Secretary is nothing but an advocate for the tourism industry. Apart from what we do indirectly, what we do directly is primarily promotional, which is also supporting the industry one way or the other. It is our job to support the industry, and we will continue to do that,” he added.

In its monthly luncheon meeting held at The Metropolitan Hotel and Spa, New Delhi, the Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO) updated its members about its upcoming convention and participation in various roadshows with the Ministry as well as in the India Tourism Mart. Chairing the meeting was Pronab Sarkar, President, IATO; EM Najeeb, Senior Vice President, IATO and Rajesh Mudgill, Honorary Secretary, IATO. They attended to the queries of the members and solved their concerns regarding GST. The IATO Managing Committee also felicitated Ajeet Bajaj and his daughter Diya Bajaj for accomplishing the feat of climbing Mount Everest recently.  

The Indian Association of Tour Operators held its election on April 28, 2018 and announced the new team for the 2018-20 period. The returning officer for the election was Akshay Kumar, Vice Chairman, Federation of Associations in Indian Tourism & Hospitality (FAITH). Pronab Sarkar has been re-elected as the President unopposed, while Rajiv Mehra was also re-elected as the Vice President unopposed. Ravi Gosain is the new Treasurer and Rajnish Kaistha is the new Joint Secretary, both of whom were elected unopposed too. The voting was conducted for the position of Senior Vice President, Honorary Secretary as well as EC Members in the EC active and allied category. Pronab Sarkar, President, IATO said, “We are glad that the members have chosen us to represent them at IATO. The new team has a few new members and I am sure they will bring new ideas to be implemented to build a better working atmosphere in the association. I congratulate the new team and welcome all of them to work for the members together.”

Pronab Sarkar, President, IATO, expresses his discontent over the Union Budget 2018, saying there was nothing in it for tourism. “The Union Budget 2018 has nothing to offer to the tourism industry. We are not happy as there was no relief from double taxation in GST which was our major concern. Even after focusing on job creation, the government has ignored that tourism could be a major facilitator for job creation. Under GST Goods and services should be under the same purview. Since there is no respite from cascading taxation, India would remain a costlier destination than its neighbouring countries for tourists. The only positive is the focus on infrastructure, wherein they have introduced sea planes, 99 smart cities, 10 new destinations, enhanced experience at 110 Adarsh monuments, airport expansion, etc. Also, Corporate Tax of 25 per cent is extended to companies with turnover up to Rs. 250 crore in financial year 2016-17. Earlier, this was for companies with turnover of Rs. 50 crore. Even road and rail transport have got an increased budget. However, businesswise there is no change,” Sarkar said.

The Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO) is keen to conduct an educational seminar on the Northeast for its members. The association feels that there is a need for its members to learn about the Northeastern destinations and know about the ground realities of the same, to be able to sell it to their clients. Pronab Sarkar, President, IATO, said, “We are willing to organise the educational seminar for our members around India with the help of local members in Northeast, so that they are well aware of the region’s destinations. We are waiting for our members to show interest for the same to take forward the idea soon.”

After successfully concluding its annual convention in Bhubaneshwar, Odisha from September 7-10, the Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO) has announced its first outbound convention in Sri Lanka. Pronab Sarkar, President, IATO, reveals, “We have been given a green signal from the Sri Lanka Tourism Board for our first outbound convention that will be held from October 2-5, 2017 in Colombo. We will be working on that now and will inform our members as soon as we return to New Delhi. This will be the first outbound convention that will be organized by IATO. We will discuss the agenda for that and announce it within a few days.”