Tourism sector is noticed

INTERIM BUDGET & THE ECONOMY/BAGGAGE RULES

Travel and tour operators have welcomed Finance Minister Jaswant Singh's budgetary proposals to increase the limit of free baggage allowance from Rs 12,000 to Rs 25,000 and reduce Customs duty on such baggage at international airports. They say the proposals will help reduce congestion at Customs counters.

Singh reduced Customs duty on such baggage from 50 per cent to 40 per cent.

Announcing this in the Lok Sabha while presenting the interim Budget, he said the proposals would substantially reduce congestion at the Customs counters at the arrival halls of international airports. The measures would come into force with immediate effect, he said.

"Although most well-known international brands are available in India, Indian tourists do love to go on shopping sprees at places like Dubai or Malaysia. Most of them felt the limit of Rs 12,000 was too small and would resort to some illegal means of sneaking past the Customs counters. Now they can shop without any guilt," said Maharaj Wahi, managing director of Travel Promotions, a travel agency, and former president of the Indian Association of Tour Operators.

Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) president Anand Mahindra said the move would make the arrival of both foreign and Indian tourists into the country very smooth.

"Attention to such nitty-gritties reveals the government's customer-friendly face," he said.

"We are very happy that the government is emphasising on tourism and acknowledging it as an important part of the economy, which they had not done in the last 2 decades. We, as a private player, will certainly look forward to participating in an active form in the various proposals that the government has put forward," said Ravi Dubey, Senior Vice President (Corporate Affairs) The Indian Hotels Company Ltd.

The industry felt the slew of tourism-friendly measures from the government proved that it was gradually realising the potential of the sector.

But Vikas Khanduri, regional manager, Cox and Kings, said the government now had to ensure that the Customs counters were manned by friendly staff to go with the new relaxed policies.

"The FM would have won a lot of friends by increasing the baggage allowance limit," he added.

The travel and tourism industry has been clamouring for relaxation of baggage rules for a while, along with the institution of "visa on entry" norms in order to attract tourists to the country. Today's announcement meets a long-standing demand of the sector.

With a continuous rise in the country's foreign exchange reserves to over $100 billion, many in the industry were expecting such an announcement from the finance minister.

"Increasing the limit on baggage at international airports will certainly boost travel. This shows the government's intention to chalk out a well-rounded tourism policy. If you want to have an open-sky policy in the near future, you need to make sure that all the airlines get adequate traffic. By giving travellers higher shopping limits the minister has provided them with an additional incentive to travel abroad," said Subhash Goyal, chairman of the Delhi-based travel agency, Stic Travels.