Budget 2022 | Reactions from Travel & Tourism sector to FM Sitharaman's announcements

Budget 2022 |  Pandemic has created a global catastrophe  with far reaching implications for the Hospitality sector. This sector has never witnessed such a sharp decline. As the Budget Allocations are announced by the Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Here's how the Travel and Tourism players reacted to the announcements made by the finance minister.

Rajeev Kale: President & Country Head, Holidays, MICE, Visa – Thomas Cook (India) Limited.

While the Union Budget 2022-23 offered significant initiatives and outlay pertaining to infrastructure development, technology, health, education and skill development, we are disappointed that the Travel & Tourism sector saw limited attention.  The recommendations  put forward by our industry to support recovery did not receive mention – including tax rationalization, GST holiday, exemption of TCS on outbound tours, reduction in indirect taxes, removal of SIES benefit capping of Rs 5 cr. The Travel & Tourism industry is a valuable contributor to India’s GDP with significant inflows of forex earning, cascading positive impact to direct and allied sectors and a catalyst to job creation and skill development and support via the Union Budget would have had a far reaching impact on the country’s recovery.

The Union Budget’s focus on expansion and modernisation of transport infrastructure, leveraging the PM GatiShakti masterplan, is a welcome move in unlocking the full potential of domestic tourism that has played a mission-critical role over the last 2 years. The investment on infrastructure  will create much needed access/connectivity to yet underleveraged but high potential locales with cascading benefits, including employment, for the catchment areas.

What is noteworthy is that the seven engines are broad-based:  covering not just roads, railways, airports and ports, but equally mass transport and waterways.

We appreciate that the Budget has highlighted priority towards enhancement of the national highways network by 25,000 km in 2022-23, expressways, metro networks, multimodal connectivity between mass transport and railways, development of 400 efficient Vande Bharat trains in the next 3 years, finalisation of draft DPRs for five river links and ropeways.

The limited relief was the extension of the Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS) to March 2023, with an expansion by Rs. 50,000 crores to a total of Rs. 5 lakh crore.

The Covid-era has served to accelerate focus on contactless technology and we welcome the Union Budget announcement on issuance of E-Passports by 2022-23. E-Passports will play a critical role in facilitating safe, convenient and contactless international travel. We look forward to speedy implementation of the initiative that was originally proposed in 2019.

Dhruv Shringi Co-Founder and CEO, Yatra.com

“We congratulate and welcome the slew of measures announced by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and the government on the pragmatic and focused Budget 2022-23. We are grateful that the government has taken relevant measures to revive the travel and hospitality industry as it is one of the major contributors to the growth of our economy. PM Gati Shakti, a transformative digital approach for economic growth, will be driven by seven engines including roads, railways, airports, among others, and a collaborative effort of 16 ministries and we are optimistic that it will lead to sustainable development. The extension of ECLGS services, as well as an increased cover for the hospitality sector, will definitely bring in the much-required relief. Moreover, the rollout of e-passports and the National Ropeways Development Programme will be beneficial for the tourism sector as well. Yatra.com remains optimistic that the industry will continue to see buoyant growth driving overall economic growth in the country.”

Chirag Agarwal, Co-Founder, TravClan

Being a B2B travel tech Startup, we are happy to see that the ministry has prioritised our needs and has extended the tax incentive until March 2023. This is a much needed relief for new businesses such as ours to sustain and it’ll also help a lot of new startups to take off. From a travel perspective, since travel agents are considered our primary partners, we welcome the much deserved loans that are being introduced to give this sector some relief. The pandemic has been tough on the industry and this decision will not only aid our business but will also impact the entire industry on the whole.

Vishal Suri, Managing Director, SOTC Travel

The Union Budget 2022 presented by Hon’ble Finance Minister provides the much needed positivity with focus on infrastructural development, digital enhancements, and healthcare. While, the Prime Minister’s PM Gati Shakti plan focusing on roads (25,000kms additional national highway), railways (2000km new railway network by 2023), airports, ports, waterways as these modern infra developments will raise productivity and be the key drivers of domestic tourism economy. Additionally, the Parvat Mala announcement with 8 National Ropeways development project will ease commuting and thereby improve connectivity. The two noteworthy announcements of issuance of e-passports and the expansion of the ECLGS scheme for the hospitality sector will help boost the travel and tourism industry.

However this Union Budget did not provide the travel & tourism industry the respite we anticipated with respect to rationalization of taxes, reducing/ eliminating the TCS on outbound travel, and elimination of the 5 crore capping for the SEIS benefit. We hoped this budget would offer incentives to Corporates for organizing meetings and conference in India through partial or full tax exemptions.

Madhavan Menon - Managing Director, Thomas Cook (India) Limited

The Union Budget 2022-23 reflected a development and investment orientation, with much needed emphasis on infrastructure, technology, skill development and health.

From a Travel & Tourism perspective however, the Union Budget has been disappointing. The Budget made no reference to the industry’s recommendations to aid revival, including rationalization of taxes (a complete GST holiday, exemption of TCS on outbound tours, reduction in indirect taxes), removal of SIES benefit capping of Rs 5 cr.

For a sector that is a key contributor to the Country’s GDP and brings in valuable foreign exchange earnings, with a force multiplier impact on employment and skill development, a stimulus would have created significant value in supporting the country’s road to recovery and growth.

The limited relief in acknowledgement of the severe impact to the hospitality sector, was the extension of the Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS) to March 2023, with an expansion by Rs. 50,000 crores to a total of Rs. 5 lakh crore.

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