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Vol. XXX Issue 4; February 2 XXXIssue4; Vol. ddppl.com nd fortnight i ssue 2018 fortnight i A DDPPUBLICATION Technology Talk TravTalkIndia.comkIndia.com Pages : 24+36 Pages Supplement 24+36Pages : Pages ` 50/- World arrivals 5%, India 15% Alphons Kannanthanam, Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Tourism says the sector has the biggest multiplier effect for any economy, as for every rupee spent, you get `4 back. spinner for economic devel- focus of tourism in the coun- KANCHAN NATH We need to put our hearts, souls and expertise opment and employment, he try. Let’s create a Kashmir, he Minister was invited added, “The tourism sector together to make Kashmir the focus of tourism which is truly heaven with all Tas the Chief Guest at an has the biggest multiplier ef- in the country. Let’s create a Kashmir, which its beauty, cuisine and music. event organised by Travel fect. For every rupee spent, If Kashmir is marketed prop- Agents Association of Kash- you get `4 back. In terms of is truly heaven with all its beauty, cuisine and erly, you don’t need anything mir at The Lalit, New Delhi. equity, from illiterate to semi- music. If Kashmir is marketed properly, you don’t else but just the tourism in- Kannanthanam observed that literate, graduates to profes- dustry to provide jobs for all Indian tourism did extremely sionals to the biggest global need anything else but just the tourism industry to the Kashmiris. well in 2017. “We crossed the experts, everybody gets em- provide jobs for all the Kashmiris. 10 million mark in Foreign broiled in the tourism sector. Tourist Arrivals (FTAs). Inter- This is exactly what the Prime Alphons Kannanthanam nationally, the numbers are Minister’s dream is - not only Minister of State (IC) for Tourism Breaking Records counted for every foreign na- that India has to grow but Government of India Foreign Tourist Arrivals tional returning to India called also taking the fruits of devel- (FTAs) to India crossed the the International Tourist Arriv- opment to the last person out 10 million mark in 2017 als (ITAs). So if we consider there. That is inclusive India.” so that we bring dignity to tending the ASEAN foreign message of tourism is bring- In terms of International that number, we have crossed their lives. Under the univer- ministers’ conference, I was ing hearts closer. Tourism is Tourist Arrivals (ITAs), the 16 million mark. Our tour- Union Budget 2018 sal healthcare system in this most flattered by the open- the best weapon against ter- India has crossed the 16 ism grew by 15.2 per cent in Elaborating on the country, every individual gets ing statement of Thailand’s rorism anywhere in the world. million mark 2017, while the global tour- Budget which came out the insured for an amount of `5 tourism minister. He had It’s the best tool to bring India tourism grew by 15.2 ism grew only by 5 per cent,” same day, Kannanthanam lakh. Everybody deserves a said that the underlying civi- everybody together.” per cent in 2017, while the he said. Foreign Exchange said, “The entire focus of the better life and needs to be lisation of Southeast Asia is global tourism grew only Earnings (FEEs) from tourism Budget this year is on bring- taken care of.” Indian. That was an incred- Jewel of Kashmir by 5 per cent grew by 20.5 per cent, a dra- ing dignity to people, to the ible statement for a minister Emphasising on the Foreign Exchange Earnings matic increase over last year. lower middle class, lower Combat Terrorism to make in his own country. need to market Kashmir and (FEEs) from tourism strata of society, to the middle Sharing his recent ex- The theme for the frescos at reiterating MOT’s support, grew by 20.5 per cent, a Inclusive India class and people all around. perience at an international the Grand Palace in Bangkok he said, “We need to put our dramatic increase over Highlighting the role of The bulk of the expenditure trip, he said, “On my recent is all from the Ramayana and hearts, souls and expertise last year tourism and hospitality as a goes to that strata of society visit to Thailand while at- Mahabharata. The underlying together to make Kashmir the Industry players react to Budget The Union Budget 2018-19, presented by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, proposes to develop 10 prominent tourist sites into iconic destinations, focus on the UDAN scheme and work on digital connectivity at railway stations. TRAVTALK spoke with industry experts to find out their opinion on this year's Budget. None of them seemed too upbeat about it. TT BUREAU The Budget has nothing for avia- As on expected lines keeping in tion and tourism industry. We were mind the 2019 elections, there has The tourism sector had pinned looking forward to the government been nothing substantial and excit- hopes on the Budget in anticipa- giving us industry status, decrease ing for the SME’s or salaried people tion of certain key measures such the GST, develop tourism by making in Budget 2018. However, from the as export status to tourism industry. it tax free or lowering the taxes. How- industry perspective, it is hearten- However, against expectations, noth- ever, nothing like that has happened. ing to note the intent to upgrade the ing has been mentioned about this The positive is that they are going to existing airport facilities in the coun- in the Budget and GST issues linger. build up 10 smart cities, which would try to be able to handle more than We have been pleading the govern- boost the infrastructure and help in five times the existing traffic. The ment that our taxes are much higher tourism. Also, the airport infrastruc- Jyoti Mayal proposal to develop 10 tourist sites Mahendra Vakharia compared to our neighbouring coun- Honorary Secretary India Travel Award winner Pronab Sarkar ture is going to be developed further, across India into ‘iconic tourist sites’ tries and we need to be on a par with TAAI and President, OTOAI President with which we are looking forward to is a welcome initiative as it will help them. Some developments will have a IATO more connectivity with international in inbound tourism. Besides these references to tourism, positive impact such as developing 10 flights from Tier-II cities. this year again, the tourism industry is not given any iconic destinations, enhancing tourist amenities at 100 Adarsh significant impetus. monuments, expanding airport capacity more than five times. Contd. on page 4 4 TRAVTALK FEBRUARY 2ND FORTNIGHT ISSUE 2018 QUICKBYTES GST concerns plagued agents in 2017 Contd. from page 3 While the government has Despite repeated requests for in- The hospitality sector has been taken many initiatives to boost busi- frastructure status by the hospitality once again almost entirely ignored in ness and infrastructure, we’ve got industry, it hasn’t found any mention the Union Budget. What the govern- a mixed reaction from the trade on in the Budget. Among the positives ment needs to realise is that ‘Incred- the Budget. Increasing the threshold is the `500 crore allocations for ‘Op- ible India’ will be a success only when limit for corporate tax from `50 crores eration Green’ to promote Farmer the hospitality industry, a key driver to to `250 crores is a welcome move. Producers Organisations (FPOs), our economic growth, gets the right Building international airports around agri logistics, processing facilities and attention. Developments in ancillary the country, offering Wi-Fi in trains professional management. Post de- sectors like infrastructure and aviation and railway stations is welcome too. monetisation and GST, many hotels Garish Oberoi Dilip Datwani Subhash Goyal are certainly positive but that alone Also, encouraging investment in sea President President India Travel Award winner and have become Non-Performing Assets isn’t adequate. Promoting and encour- plane activities would benefit tour FHRAI Hotel and Restaurant Associa- Hon. Secretary, FAITH (NPAs). We still await measures by aging investments in hospitality can tion of Western India (HRAWI) operators. However, the government the government to deal with NPAs. In place India on the map of the tourism failed to differentiate tour operators based on FEEs under totality, the Budget is more for the ease of living and not so destinations of the world. GST and reduce GST from 28 per cent to 18 per cent. much for the ease of doing business. We welcome the focus on airport The government’s move to develop We are heartened to note the fo- infrastructure capacity announced in 10 prominent tourist sites as ‘iconic cus on rural India - right from boosting the Budget. In our 20-year passenger destinations’ is welcome. Along with the Smart Cities programme to laying forecasts, IATA anticipates India will this, the move to upgrade tourism down a blueprint for better connectivity become the third largest aviation mar- amenities at 100 Adarsh monuments through the UDAN scheme. The Budg- ket by 2024. But this is by no means will enhance visitor experience. et also indicates a clear commitment to guaranteed. To make this a reality, All this will generate huge eco- improving rail networks by announcing airport capacity in India needs to be nomic activity as it also involves that all stations with more than 25,000 augmented and expanded quickly. infrastructure and skill development footfalls will have escalators while Amitabh Khosla IATA is supportive of leveraging AAI’s Peter Kerkar in the region. The move to expand Madhavan Menon trains will be provided with Wi-Fi and Country Director–India balance sheet for infrastructure crea- Group CEO, Cox & Kings Chairman CCTV monitoring facilities to ensure the UDAN to over 56 unserved air- International Air Transport tion and expansion but a big ques- India Travel Award winner Thomas Cook Group safety.