 "Mahesh Sharma")
The government has often raised concern over "predatory" pricing of air tickets, but has abstained from taking any step to check it yet. Tourism Minister and Minister of State for Civil Aviation Mahesh Sharma in an interview with Arijit Paladhi and Somesh Jha says he has now called a meeting with aviation companies to discuss high air fares and a proposal to create a price band. Sharma acknowledges the need for an independent tourism board and highlightes the need to attract foreign tourists. Edited excerpts:
How has the year been for tourism?
It has been a mixed year. World Economic Forum's Travel and Tourism Index ranks us at 52 - a climb of 13 positions. We have witnessed a positive trend with 10.5 per cent increase in FTAs (foreign tourist arrivals) and 6 per cent growth in FEEs (foreign exchange earnings) in the past one year. Yet we do not account for even 1 per cent of the total world tourism numbers and that is a concern. There are a lot of challenges on the front. Safety, cleanliness and hospitality are what I want to focus on to increase the numbers. With India's rich cultural heritage, we must ensure at least 1 per cent of the total tourist numbers.
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First, Air India's on-time performance was 67 per cent. Now, it is 82-84 per cent. Air India is looking at an operational profit for the first time in a decade. We have come up with six new airports. We plan to privatise four more airports on joint ventures.
But why have you put on hold the decision to build low-cost airports?
125 airstrips, no flight has ever landed on 40. What is the point of just creating infrastructure?
You have said many times that there should be no predatory pricing of air tickets. What do you mean by that?
The airlines should not sell tickets worth Rs 500 and also not for Rs 30,000. There has to be a band in which the tickets should be sold. For instance, a base price could be decided for a particular route and a certain proportion of rise or decrease in the airfare could be permitted.
Isn't that controlling the market forces?
In principle, capping fares does not happen anywhere globally but our infrastructure is very different from other markets. We have to balance the market force, not control it.
So what is the ministry planning?
We have formed a team and called all the airlines for a meeting this week. I have told them that passengers are unhappy. We need to socially address the problem. We will take the opinion of the airlines first. They would not want any kind of regulation on them. Then, we will discuss this with our Cabinet ministers. The initial opinion is that some sort of regulation should be there. DGCA (Directorate General of Civil Aviation) is our regulator and it may notify the band of price in which a ticket has to be sold, if a decision is taken in this regard.
Another criticism is that everything has been just a proposal, but nothing concrete has happened.
I believe one year is too time for implementation. We need more time. I have worked in this ministry for six months and I know how long it takes.
What's your priority - increasing domestic or foreign tourist numbers?
We understand that the domestic tourist market is huge and we need to monetise this market. For that purpose, we have launched 'Swadesh Darshan' that incorporates five national tourist circuits for the domestic market to explore, identified 12 cities within the 'Prasad' yojana and facilities to be upgraded. However, foreign tourists remain a priority for us since they bring in foreign exchange and take their experiences and stories of India back home.
The electronic-tourist visa (eTV) had your ministry in a bit of a soup with foreign tourists confusing it with visa on arrival, leading to deportations in a lot of cases.
The naming of the policy as Electronic Tourist Visa-on-Arrival initially was wrong and it did lead to a lot of confusion, yes. We have corrected it now and it is called eTV.
What is the final decision on the 5/20 rule?
We had a couple of choices. First, to allow airlines with 10 aircraft and three years experience to fly. Also, we couldn't tell the operators to start flying immediately - there should be some regulation. Then we could have allowed the airlines to fly abroad immediately but then who would take flights to the remote areas? We also have a social obligation. To do that, we have formulated a system asking the airlines to gain the minimum credits. This will likely be discussed in the Cabinet when the next meeting takes place.
Both the incumbent and new airlines are not quite happy with the policy. The former say 5/20 should not go and the latter term it a complex one…
Definitely, the incumbent airlines wouldn't allow the policy to go but we don't have to see individual interest. We have to look at the aviation sector as a whole. We need to open up the market.
Countries like Singapore have a dedicated and independent tourism promotion body that does not involve bureaucratic procedure. Do you think India needs such a body, independent from the government, to focus solely on promotion of India as a tourist destination?
I think that is a really good idea. I think we need a body that can work on mission-mode and have dedicated personnel solely for the promotion of Indian tourism. Perception plays an important part in tourism promotion and such a body can give shape to potential foreign tourists' perception of India. We can draft in private experts in the shape of a dedicated Indian-tourism promotion body.
Don't you think steps like banning food items which form a part of many people's diet harms the perception you are trying to build?
See I don't think this (referring to the ban on beef in Maharashtra) should have become this big an issue. I come from a background which involves a different belief system. However, I would be uncomfortable imposing my belief system on someone else. I come from a village where cattle and children were equals in the nurturing provided. This issue should not have been blown up in the domestic and tourism market and as a minister I would want to stay away from passing judgements on this.
What are your plans for attracting foreign investors in your sectors?
We have FDI(foreign direct investment) provisions in both hotel and civil aviation. The hotel industry is not in a good shape and if we are to achieve our target of increasing tourist numbers, we have to shore up the hospitality industry. Quite a few of the leading hotels' owners have remarked that the policy framework is not conducive and that they are running losses.
Many DGCA inspectors threatened to resign recently. Are we facing a problem in hiring them?
We have a shortage of technical staff. Also, we have severe shortage of pilots and senior commanders in the country. We need to work on that.
What about listing Airports Authority of India (AAI) on stock the exchange?
The listing process of AAI and Pawan Hans has been initiated.
