Focus on infra, developing 17 iconic sites to boost travel and tourism sector, says industry

The government's focus on infrastructure development, improving accessibility and plans to develop 17 tourism sites into world class tourist destinations in the Union Budget for 2019-20 will give the sector a boost, according to travel and tourism players.

"From travel and tourism industry point of view, while we are pleased to hear of the focus on infrastructure related spends with investment of 100 lakh crore over the next five years, it is critical that we are able to build better connectivity to key tourist destinations as that still remains a sore point for one of the fastest growing service industry in India," MakeMyTrip Founder and Group CEO Deep Kalra said.

 

In her Budget speech, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the government is developing 17 iconic tourism sites into world class tourist destinations to serve as a model for other tourism sites.

The announcement to develop 17 iconic tourism sites into world class tourism destination is important one as it will add momentum to solving connectivity issues, providing better facilities, promotion and branding where private participation can also play a role, Kalra added.

Echoing similar views, Thomas Cook (India) Chairman and MD Madhavan Menon said: "With this Budget, the government has addressed the key fundamental challenges like liquidity, FDI, employment and infrastructure development."

For travel and tourism sector, it is encouraging to see focus being given to the aviation industry, he added.

"A noteworthy initiative is the setting up of 17 iconic tourism sites as world-class tourist centres, coupled with a Digital Repository as a bank of documentation on India's tribal history and heritage," Menon said.

This year's budget aims to drive robust growth for the travel and tourism industry with the government committing to strengthening infrastructure and improving accessibility, Yatra.com COO (B2C) Sharat Dhall said.

"Boosted by government's plan to enhance 17 iconic tourism sites into world-class tourist destinations, we expect India to gain a prominent spot in the global tourism map, thus continuing the growth momentum that the industry has been enjoying so far," he added.

SOTC Travel MD Vishal Suri said the proposal statements made by the Finance Minister in the Budget will provide impetus to the tourism sector.

"Impetus to projects such as Incredible India, UDAN, new initiatives to promote our heritage destinations, better road connectivity, focus on developing 17 iconic tourism sites, and budgetary allocation of Rs 100 lakh crore for infrastructure development will help catalyse strong domestic tourism", he added.