SME Times News Bureau | 07 Sep, 2020
Industry body FICCI has urged
the government to support the Indian Travel & Tourism industry which is
critical in the revival and survival of this sector.
Sangita Reddy, President, FICCI said, "Travel and Tourism Industry is
one of the most affected sectors due to the pandemic as everything came to a
standstill and will take longer to revive. The industry needs major support
from the Government to survive and revive. It is critical to keep the sector
alive as they serve as a critical infrastructure in the development of an
economy."
Jyotsna Suri, Past President, FICCI & Chairperson, FICCI Tourism
Committee & CMD, The Lalit Suri Hospitality Group, said, "The support
by the Government is critical to help the Travel and Tourism Industry to get
through this crisis. A waiver for twelve months of all statutory dues is
urgently required with respect to license fees, property tax and excise fees.
Bars in hotels should be allowed to open and liquor should also be allowed to
be served in restaurants as well. As per the recent MHA order on unlock 4.0,
there is no clarity on this. Moreover, banqueting/meetings should be permitted
as per the size of the hall."
She added, "A national
tourism policy should
be issued by the Ministry of Tourism, Government of India which covers common protocols for entry of a
tourist into a state. This will act as a uniform guideline for all states to
follow."
Dipak Deva, Co-Chairman, FICCI Tourism Committee and Managing Director,
SITA, TCI & Distant Frontier said, "The Service Exports from
India Scheme (SEIS) scrips which is due to the tour operators for the financial
year 2018-2019 must be paid at the earliest. This is only possible if the
Government starts accepting the forms. This amount of SEIS will help all
destination management companies in tiding over this crisis period with the
much-needed working capital."
"India is a large country and a bilateral travel bubble for
international travellers should be done on a regional basis for example Russia
with Goa. This will help create demand for this winter season, which is not
looking promising," Mr Deva added.
JK Mohanty, Co-Chairman, FICCI Tourism Committee & CMD, Swosti
Group, said, "Hotels should be given permission to host all kinds of
banquets and conference in the hotel, with a ceiling of 50% of venue capacity
and maintaining social distancing norm to allow hotels to earn some revenue
when other source of business has dried up."
He said, "The interest rate charged by the banks on the
moratorium is very high. The Government is requested to look into this and
reduce the rate of interest."
