Tour operators are crucial

Anand Singh, Director, Earthen Experiences, believes that government policies must not be designed only to support prime stakeholders like airlines and hotels, but also strengthen the tour operator community.

The Ministry has data of registered tour operators – the number of people employed with each can be verified from EPF, the IT department or from the amount of turnover and tax paid – and so should come up with a stimulus package accordingly. It could be in the form of a tourism recovery fund like the one in Austria, a working capital loan like in Brazil, a tax payment deferral like the one seen in Costa Rica, or a three-month tax suspension on sales. What is inevitable here is that these packages should quickly reach those going through unbearable financial suffering, people at thegrass-roots of tourism, the true stakeholders.

As was earlier, the government’s concern should not be confined to support only prime stakeholders such as airlines and star hotels. Airline and hotel owners are mostly investors who run multifaceted businesses supported by banks. They did some business during the COVID pandemic also. Airlines flew without leaving middle seats empty and hotels hosted marriages and staycations. They will recover fast and it has been seen that the moment the situation improves, there is an unrealistic price surge defying the demand and supply economics. This time, the government should focus more on tour operators as they have a wider base and reach. They are the ones who, by now, have lost all their assets and are desperately looking to the government to bail them out of misery. It is the travel agent whose connections act as a broadband and reach billions within the country as well as overseas. It is that relentless work that brings business not only for airlines and hotels but also for transporters, guides and craftsmen. It is the tour operator that will bring a smile back to the rickshaw puller near Delhi’s Jama Masjid or the boatman at Srinagar.