PANJIM: Travel and Tourism Association of Goa (TTAG) have sought an immediate announcement on allowing direct charter and scheduled international flights into Goa under the bubble policy of the Government of India from October 1, 2021.
“This will give the operators a planning time, as the flights have to be announced and sold, the rooms have to be procured, aircrafts have to be arranged, flying and landing permissions have to be obtained,” TTAG president Nilesh Shah said.
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Shah warned that any delay in such an announcement, will mean Goa loses out on charter business and international tourists, causing huge losses to businesses. TTAG pointed out that Goa’s charters constitute 92 per cent of India’s charter business but that the prevailing SOPs have left out this ‘Goa-specific issue’.
A TTAG delegation met Union Tourism Minister G Kishan Reddy and submitted a memorandum to him on this and various demands.
TTAG also called on the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) to make provisions for specific SOPs catering to the requirements of the charter business that happens only between October and April.
They asked the Tourism Minister to impress upon MHA to allow various facilities under the bubble policy to enable passengers to fly from the country of origin directly into Goa. First on this list was providing vaccination certificate and Covid testing for international tourists.
TTAG added that e-visa facilities should be activated and the existing free visa scheme should continue beyond 5 lakhs, to encourage international tourists and charters to India for the next two year at least. This scheme, which was announced recently, is applicable till March 31, 2022, or till 5 lakh visas are issued, whichever is earlier.
TTAG also suggested that a direct cash incentive of a minimum of 10 dollars be given to charter tour operators as this would help increase foreign tourist inflow into Goa.
TTAG’s suggestions are based on appeals made by various industry associations that have been requesting for relief from the government given how adversely the Covid pandemic has affected them.
This includes pushing forward the status of tourism as an export industry, providing GST refund for international tourists, other tax relief, and promoting India’s tourism globally.
TTAG reasoned that since travel and tourism is a key contributor to the Indian economy, it warrants strong focus via budgetary allocation, given its ability to catalyse the growth engine for both revenue and job creation.
On another note, TTAG lamented that the present GST rules still don’t provide a methodology for foreign tourists to claim a GST refund. They also pointed out the process envisioned is tenuous and gave details of the same.
“It is thus requested to start a scheme with easier processes (GST Refund for International Tourists) to help attract tourists and which is in line with the avowed objective of the GST regime of zero rating of goods and the Centre’s ‘Make in India’ initiative,” Shah added.
TTAG further appealed to the Centre to consider offering a one-time settlement to clear legacy central excise duty and VAT issues up to 2017 to ensure they do not linger and act as a drag in the GST regime.
TTAG also requested that ‘India Tourism’ do promotions to increase the visibility of the country in the international tourism circuit. It recommended using the budgets from the promotions for discounting the visa rates to attract tourists to India.
“Tourism offices in international markets should be replaced by appointing a local PR agency in each of these markets, so that as soon as this crisis is over, we have someone to convince tourists that they should visit Incredible India,” Shah added.
