Category Archives: Associations

On hospitality failing to find a mention in Union Budget, Rajindera Kumar, EC Member-FHRAI, Former President FHRAI & HRANI, Working Director, Vivanta by Taj Ambassador, says, “The Budget spoke about every other sector except tourism which I feel is very upsetting as the matter of the fact is that anyone who comes to India or goes out from India, spends their maximum time under the ambit of tourism. The hotel industry too is very disappointed with this Union Budget. I have to say that running a hotel in not a joy anymore in today’s time.” Kumar raises some valid questions on FDI. “In case of FDI when the government can offer a single window clearance then why can’t the same be done for the hospitality industry? We can just hope to be an active part of the five Ts, with tourism being one of them under this government,” he asks.

The Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO) held an interactive meeting at the Ashok Hotel, New Delhi, for its members on the new legislation for service tax, where they had invited S.C. Kamra, Advocate and expert on service tax. Kamra made a presentation on the service tax on how the new notification will impact the tour operators. The session saw a full house with around 300 members in attendance. The presentation was followed by question and answers, where IATO members put forward their queries and problems regarding the new Service Tax norms.

The Outbound Tour Operators Association of lndia (OTOAl) has written to Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley regarding the recent amendment in Service Tax, which would impact outbound tour markets. Explaining how the agents will not be given any input credit on the tax they pay, OTOAI has said that this would hamper the growth of the tourism industry. OTOAI has urged the finance minister to consider that the abatement available to tour operator should be amended to provide a choice to the tour operator to opt for a lower abatement along with CENVAT credit on input services or opt for a higher abatement without claiming the CENVAT credit on input services. The letter undersigned by OTOAI President Guldeep Singh Sahni reads, “As the actual margin earned by the tour operators is only 3 to 5 per cent, the increase in taxable value to 60 per cent will significantly negatively impact the sector and increase the cost of outbound tours.”

International tourist arrivals grew by 3.9% to reach a total of 1,235 million, according to the latest UNWTO World Tourism Barometer. Some 46 million more tourists (overnight visitors) travelled internationally last year compared to 2015. The year 2016 was the seventh consecutive year of sustained growth following the 2009 global economic and financial crisis. A comparable sequence of uninterrupted solid growth has not been recorded since the 1960s. As a result, 300 million more international tourists travelled the world in 2016 as compared to the pre-crisis record in 2008. International tourism receipts grew at a similar pace in this period (complete 2016 receipts results will be reported in May). “Tourism has shown extraordinary strength and resilience in recent years, despite many challenges, particularly those related to safety and security. Yet, international travel continues to grow strongly and contribute to job creation and the wellbeing of communities around the world”, said UNWTO Secretary-General Taleb Rifai. By region, Asia and the Pacific (+8%) led growth in international tourist arrivals in 2016, fuelled by strong demand from both intra- and interregional source markets. Africa (+8%) enjoyed a strong rebound after two weaker years. In the Americas (+4%) the positive momentum continued. Europe (+2%) showed rather mixed results, with double-digit growth in some destinations offset by decreases in others. Demand in the Middle East (-4%) was also uneven, with positive results in some destinations, but declines in others.

FAITH believes that levying of service charge on invoices is a healthy, cashless practice designed to motivate staff through an additional financial incentive. Levy & proportionate distribution of ‘service charges’ enable enhanced financial support to staff from lower economic groups. FAITH has requested ‘urgent’ intervention of Secretary-Tourism, Government of India, Secretary-Consumer Affairs, Deputy Secretary-Consumer Affairs, & Tourism Secretaries of all state governments, on the issue. The association has recommended a retraction to be released from MCA to secretaries – food, civil supplies & consumer protection. FAITH has opined, that service charges wherever they are levied on invoices, are pre-disclosed on the menu, where it normally says that ‘service charges & government taxes as applicable are extras’. Whenever consumers order, it is implied that they are legally aware of that food service establishment’s disclosed commercial policies and offer of sale. Service tax is thereafter, levied on service charge which is remitted to department of revenue and adds to our country’s indirect tax collections. Once they are disclosed and thereafter accepted by the consumer, it is thus not an unfair consumer practice. FAITH has voiced concern that the ‘letter ‘ by Ministry of Consumer Affairs may create confusion in the minds of diners when they eat out. Additionally, it has the potential to create an unhealthy distrust towards food service establishments among those diners who may not be able to discern distinction between service charge & service tax. Furthermore, if service charges start getting disputed by consumers, it may create unwanted litigation hotel / restaurants & department of revenue, since service tax is levied on all service charges on invoices. All in all, there is scope for large scale litigation & a …

TrawellTag Cover-More will conduct its Travel Agents Engagement Program (TAEP) for members of the Enterprising Travel Agents Association (ETAA) of non-IATA travel agents in Kolkata and Hyderabad in February 2017. The first session will be conducted in Kolkata on February 4, 2017 followed by Hyderabad on February 10, 2017. It will be conducted by corporate trainer Aman Kaushik who has done similar sessions for the trade in the past. Jagat Mehta, President, ETAA, says, “Our insurance partner TrawellTag Cover-More has designed a program especially for our members which is focused on up-selling and cross-selling skill development. The ‘Travel  Agents  Engagement Program’ has proved to be a productive step towards achieving higher quality of travel ancillary sales, increasing penetration and improving cross-selling skills among travel agents.” ETAA is scheduled to hold its second Domestic Convention at Leonia Resorts, Hyderabad from March 3 to 5, 2017.

Uttarakhand Tourism Professionals Association’s (UTPA) official meet was organised in New Delhi after formal registration of the organisation as a Trust. More than 130 members joined this meet to discuss about promotion of tourism in Uttarakhand. Ravi Gosain, President, UTPA, presided over the meeting with General Secretary Sunil Bahuguna and rest of the office bearers. In the meeting all members participated enthusiastically by sharing their views and achievements in the field of tourism. Some of the members launched new camp sites, homestays and village tourism, etc. During the meet 25 more people joined UTPA & got the membership who are connected with Hospitality & Tourism. The Management committee also announced formation of five Sub Committee with different task/profiles toward the development of Tourism in Uttarakhand, promotion of its languages, its culture & festivals, the growth of villages & stop further migration, we are sure all these effort will help us to generate occupation for village people soon in near future. It was decided to sought meeting with Tourism secretary and CEO of Uttarakhand Tourism soon with a delegation to present their suggestions for promotion of Tourism and locals in Uttarakhand. UPTA also invites all tourism professionals who are associated with Uttarakhand to support and join hands with them in this mission. UTPA is recently formed to develop tourism in Uttarakhand and professionals who are working in Tourism and Hospitality sector of Uttarakhand are eligible to became members.

The Travel Agents Federation of India (TAFI) is planning to organise a day-long symposium in Mumbai in the third or fourth week of February 2017. The symposium will focus on issues like e-visas for inbound traffic, visa challenges for outbound traffic from India, GST and other topics that the Union Budget will touch upon. Sharing more details, Pradip Lulla, Vice President, TAFI, said, “We will get experts to address our members who will be not from Mumbai but also from Pune and surrounding areas. We will also invite stakeholders like airlines and consulates. Topics are yet to be firmed up.” TAFI had conducted a similar symposium in New Delhi in October 2016 where it had also launched its new logo. “We want to replicate this in other metro cities as well and discuss topics that are relevant for that particular region,” Lulla added.

PATA India Chapter’s meeting with the Ministry of Tourism, Govt. of India and Air India discussed initiatives for the upcoming year and also highlighted the past year’s achievements. Vinod Zutshi, Secretary-Tourism, Govt. of India, was optimistic about tourism’s prospects for 2017 and shared, “We have been exceeding the global growth of tourism and have marked stuck to our target of 10 per cent growth on an average for this year. Not only have we seen a drastic increase in international tourist arrivals, the domestic sector is equally flourishing. From 30-40 per cent growth in 2015, we are expecting the domestic tourism growth to touch around 60-70 per cent.” Zutshi also mentioned that the 1363 helpline which was launched in mid November 2015, receives around 4000 queries per week, up from 1000 per week, and revealed that suggestions received from pre-budgetary sessions would help yield a favourable budget. Ashwani Lohani, CMD, Air India, stated that expansions and consolidation for the national carrier will go hand-in-hand, with plans to add atleast 13 new destinations afoot. “We will be launching a minimum of six new routes in 2017 and about six more in 2018. The whole idea is to add 100 new aircrafts by 2020 and to convert the existing fleet into a relatively newer one. “2017 will also focus on turning profits for Alliance Air along with the rapid expansion of Air India’s fleet and number of destinations,” he added.

The Outbound Tour Operators’ Association of India (OTOAI) held its member’s meet in Ahmedabad for the first time on December 21, 2016 at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in the city. Attended by 90 invited guests, sponsors, and office bearers of OTOAI and the agenda for the meet was to introduce OTOAI to the tourism industry in the city,  use it as a networking event with Members of OTOAI and non members, with intention to increase the membership base in the state, informed Mahendra Vakharia, Chairman – Western Chapter, OTOAI. Apart from the networking, they had also included interesting mix of destination, product presentation and presentation by a professional GST expert, on the implications of GST in the industry. Guldeep Sahni, President, OTOAI and Riaz Munshi, Vice President, OTOAI, were also present at the meet.