Incentivise domestic travel

Gurbaxish Singh Kohli, Vice President, Federation of Hotel & Restaurant Associations of India (FHRAI), explains how including tourism under Concurrent List can help the industry. His team has been fighting for the revival of the sector even as 25% of hotels and restaurants have shut down

Hazel Jain & LiplaNegi

What does bringing tourism under the Concurrent List mean for the industry?

As FHRAI, we had been asking to bring tourism under the Concurrent list for almost two decades. As of today, hospitality is only a state subject and not a Center subject. If we jog our memory a bit, we will realise that we have never had a Union minister for tourism. This is the first time that we’ve had a tourism minister.

So what does that tantamount to? Tourism is a state subject andthe Central Government usually doesn’t interfere in it. Likewise, all states follow different policies, which make it very difficult for a traveller to move around. Every state has a different taxation policy on certain items related to tourism, like Maharashtra has VAT on liquor. Some states have different types of tax. Imagine a traveller going from Maharashtra to Goa or to Kerala and paying different taxes.

When one minister is dedicated to this, there will be rules, regulations and laws which will be formulated by the Center and those will apply on all states. Things will get regulated, policies will have to be made by the Center which will be followed by all states, and everything will get streamlined. Probably the government is realising the seriousness of tourism.

How will this benefit the industry at large?

First, it will allow the entire industry to be effectively regulated. Right now, when we go to the Center, they push away saying the state will decide. It’s a no-brainer that the taxes should be charged. Some states have given a complete waiver, and some have given a conditional waiver. In the Concurrent list, there will be a standardised format that will effectively regularise the sector.

How did your meeting with CM Uddhav Thackeray go?

He immediately investigated our request and gave us the appointment. We discussed issues concerning Maharashtra and those cities which we felt were not given proper treatment including Mumbai. We conveyed to him that while this was done keeping in mind our best interest, we must realise that we cannot shut a sector like this as there are lives and livelihoods involved.

How many hotels/restaurants have shut down in Maharashtra so far?

Maharashtra has approximately 10,500 hotels and close to two lakh restaurants. Right now, 25% hotels are shut and about 40% restaurants have shut – not because of the lockdown but because they cannot revive back. Approximately 50 lakh people have lost their jobs. Many people have not come back as they don’t find stability in the sector. They prefer to be paid less in another industry rather than being laid off every two to three months. Talking about revenue loss, we lost nearly Rs 5,000 crore every month because of the shutdown. We became vocal when we heard that there was a panel of doctors who were taking decisions and there were no members from the hospitality sector in that task force.