CII seeks govt intervention for revival of Covid-hit tourism industry

Industry body CII has sought intervention and support from the government to ensure revival of the tourism industry, majorly impacted due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In a letter to the Union Minister of State for Tourism and Culture Prahlad Singh Patel, CII has recommended several measures for the survival and gradual start of the business of the tourism sector.

The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) has also urged all stakeholders to come together and work harmoniously to solve the crisis along with the government.

Urging for the opening of economic activities, the industry body said, "With the new guidelines issued under Unlock 3.0 by the Government of India, we would be extremely grateful if economic activities and business are allowed to operate as permissible under the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) guidelines."

It requested the tourism ministry to advise all state governments to allow hotels to operate as per MHA guidelines.

As a second part of the five-pronged recommendations, CII has asked for the liquidity enhancement. It has also sought waiver of all fixed charges for the period of lockdown, deferment for 12 months of all statutory dues post the waiver period, extension period for licences and making loans more accessible.

It has also requested for services export incentive schemes for the industry and also recommended tax collected at source(TCS) exemption under GST and a rollback of the proposed provision of new TDS levy similar to TCS under GST law.

The letter also said that in order to allow domestic tour operators a level-playing field and a chance to revive their business, it is recommended that proposed TCS on the sale of overseas packages in the Finance Bill, 2020, should also be rolled back.

For stimulating the domestic tourism in India, CII recommended that e-visa be made free or be given at a nominal cost till December 2021 including tourist, business, medical and conferences visas. It also sought a 200 per cent weighted exemption of all expenses to corporates on all domestic conferences to encourage the MICE (meetings, incentives, conferencings and exhibitions) business.

The letter, written on Augutst 13, also recommended to the government to provide a zero-rating GST for MICE, a zero-rating GST for bookings made on domestic travel and tours for a period of two years. It also urged the government to provide GST refunds to international tourists.

Among other steps to boost domestic tourism, CII recommended common protocol for quarantine, etc, among state governments for seamless inter-state travel and building of key cities as tourism hubs.

Highlighting the need for policy support from the government, the letter urged the government for giving infrastructure status for lower investments in the hotel projects. The government has already granted infrastructure status to hotel projects above Rs 200 crore.

It asked the government to declare hotels with capital expenditures above Rs 25 crore, excluding land, as infrastructure. The letter also sought creation of an empowered National Tourism Board with private sector involvement and professionals on board, and formulation of inter-ministerial and inter-state taskforce for resolving immediate concerns and formulation of mid- to long-term strategies.

The letter to the minister by CII's National Committee on Tourism & Hospitality Chairman Puneet Chhatwal and Co-Chairman Deep Kalra, has also requested the government to take steps to build customer confidence such as COVID-19 testing protocols for opening up travel safely.

Among other steps, it recommended mandatory RT-PCR test within 48 hours of travel for international air travel and rapid antigen testing prior to departure and medical examination of passengers on arrival for domestic travellers.

"Your kind support will go a long way to a gradual start of business activity and will act as a catalyst to economic recovery and a lifeline to the employees who are most affected by this pandemic," according to the letter.