Indicating a deep sense of dismay, Deepak Narula, Managing Director, GRN Connect, says, “This sector is one of the last ones to start its revival process and it needed a strong thrust from the government at such a critical time. But it has chosen to ignore us yet again. It seems like they don’t care for the tourism industry anymore. We are sorely disappointed yet again.”  

Expressing his views on Budget exclusively with TravTalk, Harmandeep Singh Anand, MD, Jagsons Travels & Co-founder, GPS, says, “It is pointless to follow the Budget. In most instances it does not deliver much for the tourism industry. Somewhere down the line, the implication will be on the end consumer in the form of a cess. Why we are still expecting big things from our Union Budget. The government has clearly said be ‘Atmanirbhar’ and this time it was indeed an Atmanirbhar Budget,”

Pradeep Lulla, Acting President, Travel Agents Federation of India (TAFI) shared his comments on the Budget and says, “This year’s Budget is very disappointing, specially for the tourism sector. We had collectively put across many suggestions to the Ministry of Tourism. Unfortunately, not one suggestion has been looked into or considered. The fiscal deficit which is 9.5 is quite large and some sort of allocation to tourism should have been given.”    

Expressing his disappointment in the Union Budget, Gurbaxish Singh Kohli, Vice President, Federation of Hotel & Restaurant Association of India (FHRAI), says, “The Union Budget 2021 has disappointed the hospitality industry. The industry has been bleeding, and the FHRAI has brought it to government’s notice through several representations time and again. Our pre-Budget memorandum to the Hon’ble Finance Minister included some priority reforms to stabilise the industry such as Review of the Kamath Committee recommendations, Classifying Hospitality under the RBI Infrastructure lending norm criteria, Industry status to hotels, restaurants and resorts across the country, include hospitality and tourism in the concurrent list, MAT waiver for a period of three years, IGST billing to hotels for corporate and MICE bookings. The hospitality industry is disheartened and feels demotivated in its darkest hour. With zero foreign exchange earnings and less than 25 per cent of pre-pandemic revenues, the sector is facing an existential crisis. We stand by and come through for the Govt. in its every need, as we did during this pandemic, but we are surprised that the sector could not find even a mention in the FM’s budget. We wish our government would study what other countries have done to ensure tourism, the worst-hit sector, is kept alive. It has yet again completely and fully chosen to ignore us.”  

Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI) hopes the government will consider its suggestions for good governance and ease of doing business for the travel trade. Sharing her expectations on Budget, Jyoti Mayal, President of TAAI, says, “We believe the Budget 2021 should be focused more on spendings to enable economic growth,  what better area to spend in than tourism to generate more cash flow and earnings to enable enhancement of infrastructure.” She adds, “We have already appealed for have a uniform GST across India whereby input tax credits can be taken for services utilised across the country. The GST for tour operators should be at 1.8% with full setoff, being 18% on an average margin of 10%. Interstate credit of GST are not available to travel agents and tour operators on IGST and the same should be considered at par which shall not only benefit the corporates but the consumers are large. The similar being with airlines on the point of departure.” We are expecting the FM to ensure LTC benefits not utilised this year due to the pandemic should be permitted to be carried forward in the coming 2 years. Further to boost the economy all expenses made for travel, tourism, MiCE, adventure, domestic and religious travel, by the tax payer should be fully exempt from income tax for the next 2 years, states Mayal. The FM should also ensure 10% SIES credit to be adjusted completely under income tax. To ensure growth in tourism and all incomes from foreign exchange earnings should be given a tax holiday for a period of 2 years. TCS too to should be rescinded as it serve no purpose of tax collect and …

In a strategic move, the Karvat Group has taken over the reins of the travel ancillary business, and will hereon steer its business in India with sole proprietorship. Dev Karvat will take on the ownership of the entire group’s operations in India as CEO. He says, “The company’s commitment towards the travel trade is as persistent as ever. We are thankful to the Cover-More Group for enriching our experience with their global expertise. We will be happy to welcome them back to India in the future. We are now focusing on India-centric offerings. I am happy to share the launch of a new venture – Asego.”

In anticipation of Fiji’s borders re-opening to travellers, Fiji has introduced a ‘Care Fiji Commitment’ programme dedicated to enhanced safety, health and hygiene protocols to ensure the utmost safety of travellers to Fiji. Although Fiji’s borders are currently still closed, this programme represents a destination-wide assurance that Fiji is ready to welcome travellers safely back. Due to the country’s quick and effective response to COVID-19, Fiji was able to contain the virus from an early stage. The government’s effective containment measures put in place in March 2020 meant Fiji was able to officially declare itself COVID-contained in June 2020. Now, with the introduction of the Care Fiji Commitment, travellers can be assured that Fiji is a safe destination to enjoy on their next vacation to the islands. “The Care Fiji Commitment is our assurance to travellers that the health and safety of everyone who lives and travels here remains our number one priority,” says Tourism Fiji Acting CEO, Robert Thompson. “With this added layer of confidence in place, Fiji is primed to be an ideal post-pandemic destination – one that is and has remained COVID-19 safe, allows natural social distancing, has a wide variety of islands to choose from, offers mostly boutique resorts with under 50 rooms total, and is known for its wide-open beaches and expansive rainforests.”

One Above has added another feather to its cap and has opened an office in Taiwan – One Above Taiwan. Sharing this update is Rahim Aslam, Director, One Above, who says, “One Above Taiwan is going to be as big as Hong Kong for Indian travellers. Taiwan has the best of culture, shopping, cuisine and entertainment for every Indian traveller. Emily who heads One Above Taiwan comes with immense experience handling the Indian market in Taiwan. Under her guidance, One Above Taiwan will offer unique, high-quality travel, MICE experiences and cruise travel in Taiwan. We look ahead to 2021 with great confidence, optimism and resilience. The pandemic is far from over. However, with the global roll-out of vaccines, international borders re-opening and global economies slowly recovering – we anticipate a more promising year ahead.”

Of all the hiring in 2020, metro cities of New Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai and Chennai accounted for nearly half of the job postings on Indeed. Maximum aspirants for these jobs, however, emerged  from Jalandhar, Chandigarh, New Delhi, and Lucknow. This was an interesting departure from the top cities in 2019 where job seekers looked for hospitality and tourism jobs, namely popular tourism hubs before the pandemic set in such as Goa, Panchkula, Chandigarh, Guwahati and Delhi.

Giving fresh boost to tourism and adventure sports, the Union Ministry of Tourism & Culture Prahlad Singh Patel visited Kargil on the occasion on National Tourism Day on January 25, 2021 to inaugurate the National Event of Adventure Tourism (NEAT Kargil 2021). He also announced a branch of the Indian Institute of Skiing & Mountaineering (IISM) in Kargil to encourage the local youth to take up adventure.