GST aftermath : India now amongst the costliest tourist destinations in Asia

Mr. Bharat Malkani, past President, HRAWI on GST:

“The proposed GST rates for the hospitality industry are perfect for further development of the hospitality industry in neighbouring countries. With rates as high as 28% for mid scale hotels and 18% for budget hotels we (India) are now officially the costliest tourism destination in all of Asia.

These announcements were greeted with great deal of happiness by hotels in Malayasia, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Thailand to name a few countries. When questioned, the senior authorities in the Tourism department in these countries noted the excellent work being done by the GST council in promoting their country’s tourism. They expressed confidence that the 8 million tourists that visited India would now no longer need any further coaxing to come to Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur or even Singapore.

Without the condition of anonymity they said “This is a wonderful day for SE Asian Tourism. Although we have little to offer compared to India with such positive announcements, our GST rates of 4% to 7% now look really attractive for tourists who might have wanted to visit India this year”

Most countries have made announcements of offering rapid soft loans to investors wanting to develop new properties. Many are targeting Indian tourists with offers that include price of air tickets which are being set off against the cost of GST in Indian hotels. The tag line spotted on many websites included “Stay with us and we will fly you free; just for the cost of GST”

Generally there was agreement that this move definitely benefited tourism greatly outside of India,” said Mr. Bharat Malkani, past President, Hotel and Restaurant Association Of Western India (HRAWI).