Relief measures by FM vital

Officials of the Ministry of Tourism and trade association heads are all praises and grateful to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman for the much-awaited relief declaring free e-Tourist visa till March 31, 2022 for the first 500,000 applicants.

Arvind Singh, Secretary, Ministry of Tourism
We, at the Ministry of Tourism, welcome the relief measures and free-visa announcement that were recently made by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. We have been in discussion with the Ministry of Finance on relief measures for the tourism and hospitality sectors, for a long time. We welcome the announcement, as it will help in the revival of the tourism sector and will promote inbound travel to India. This is the kind of support that the tourism industry needed at a time like this. Tourism is one of the sectors that has been badly hit by the COVID-19 pandemic in India and across the world, and hence these measures are welcome by us. Since the relief measures have been announced for MOT-recognised tour operators only, we advise more stakeholders in the industry to get themselves registered.

Rupinder Brar, ADG, Ministry of Tourism
I would like to thank the Prime Minister, Finance Minister and Tourism Minister for announcement of relief measures for the tourism sector and taking up issues concerning the industry. We welcome the financial help for tourist guides and tour operators. It is also good that the recognised entities are being supported. The support that has come in terms of visa being announced free for the first 500,000 e-Tourist visas that will be applied for, will be a game changer. It sends a positive signal to the whole word that India is getting ready to open, the vaccination drive has picked up, number of cases are going down. Through this, we also want to send a message to the industry that please get recognised, so that you can be benefitted by any of the schemes of the government.

Jyoti Mayal, President, TAAI
It’s a welcome move by the Finance Minister to announce package or relief for the travel agents and the tourism people, especially the tourist guides, who are registered on the MOT website. However, I still feel that more should have come for the tourism sector, which is really suffering a huge cash flow crunch, seeing low business and are not even looking at any business coming and reviving quickly. I think more needs to be done; only 10% of stakeholders can benefit from this package as it includes only registered agents/ tour operators. The industry in general, has not been helped. But, it’s a small light at the end of the tunnel.

Rajiv Mehra, President, IATO
We are grateful for the relief to the tourism industry whenever visas are open, and we are grateful to the Hon’ble Tourism Minister for supporting us. I am hopeful e-Tourist visa will open soon and have appealed to the PM that visas for duration of 30 days be free for all those who apply for visa till 31st March 2023. I thank the government for considering loan to the tour operators and guides, but request that the government also consider giving one-time financial grant to all recognised tour operators which could be 50% of the wages paid by the tour operators in 2019-20 and `2.5 lakh to each tourist guide recognised by MOT/State Government as one time grant.

Pradip Lulla, Acting President and VP, TAFI
In my opinion, the most positive part in the recent announcement by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is the five lakh tourist visas that will be given free to FTAs. The other highlight is the ten lakhs that will be given in form of loans to travel agents. But the underlining part is that it will only be given to agents who are registered with the MOT which is only 904 agents. This will obviously not cover the majority of the travel trade. TAFI is therefore writing to the FM to at least look at including all the IATA agents in this. The other part is that the interest, although it is a sovereign guarantee and banks should be able to give loans on that, should be low. This is definitely a positive step.

MP Bezbaruah, Secretary-General, HAI
The FM’s announcement on free visas has a very strong symbolic message that we have the confidence to welcome visitors and that tourism and hospitality is a strong pillar of post-COVID economic recovery strategy. We sincerely hope that such measures will be logically followed by measures to make the industry recover and be ready to welcome tourists – measures like liquidity support and exemption from statutory taxes. HAI would like to compliment the FM on this initiative and look forward to some more pragmatic initiatives to create jobs and livelihoods through a rejuvenated tourism and hospitality industry. We will be there for a committed role to be played.

Subhash Goyal, President, Confederation of Tourism Professionals of India
I must thank the Hon’ble Prime Minister and the Finance Minister for the relief measures. They say better late than never; I am happy to learn about the move to grant free visa to first five lakh tourists visiting India, which will greatly help in reviving tourism. If, somehow, we could not attract five lakh tourists by 31 March, 2022, the scheme should be extended to 2023. Secondly, the government should extend visas of the travellers who are already holding visa for India since the lockdown was imposed. Thirdly, the commencement of international scheduled flights should also be announced, so that the industry can prepare.

Inputs by TT Bureau