The leaders of FICCI Tourism Committee earlier on Thursday urged the government to provide urgent support in order to ensure survival and revival of Indian travel, tourism and hospitality industry. The request was made during an interactive session with Prahlad Singh Patel, Minister of State for Tourism and Culture, Government of India. The committee members had submitted a few key recommendations for the survival of the industry, the list includes:
-Extending the moratorium for another 1 year,
-Extension of period of restruction for hotels till March 2024,
-Payment of Service Exports from India Scheme scrips, due to the tour operators for the FY 2018-19,
-Export status for foreign exchange earnings for inbound tours and hotels,
-An addition of 3 years beyond 6 years for all licenses during current and next 5 financial years, without attracting any penalty or interest,
-Extension of the repayment period for hotel industry under the Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Schemes (ECLGS) to 10 years,
-Create a separate Tourism fund under the aegis of Ministry of Tourism and bailout packages to fund and support the salaries in the Tourism and Hospitality sector in this time of crisis.
The government should provide tax rebate of Rs. 1.5 lakh to be spent on domestic holidays in the line of Leave Travel Allowance. India should get into a travel arrangement with Russia, that is, a travel bubble between Russia and Goa. Patel, on the behalf of the ministry, has bestowed support and has assured the leaders that the mentioned recommendations will be taken up to the relevant ministries.
