Tax plagued tourism industry, ignored

Jyoti Kapur, President, ADTOI, says, “With the Finance Minister talking about old airstrips to be developed, we believe that it would result in boosting domestic and inbound tourism. With the Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat scheme, now in full swing the connectivity to remote areas will increase, and it looks like a positive approach for attracting tourists to destinations in India beyond just pilgrimage sites. Also, in the budget, the government has sanctioned a huge amount for developing infrastructure and Swacch Bharat, and we believe that this too will boost tourism within the country. Cleanliness is a huge issue in India and if that is tackled, it will do wonders for tourism. It is still to be seen how the government is going to initiate these programs. However, since nothing has been done about the taxes plaguing the industry, we are a bit disappointed. Domestic tourism in India is suffering despite the rupee being weak, owing to poor infrastructure, higher taxes and connectivity. While two of these things have been addressed, we would’ve been happier had the taxes been rationalised.