Seeking resolutions for issues on hand
IATO state chapter heads on their part have been dealing with many issues in their respective states and have successfully been able to communicate to the state governments their plight and have even been successful in getting some benefits for the indust
IATO members don’t have any issue in the state, except for the challenge posed by the pandemic to the tourism industry. Government hasn’t addressed the tourism stakeholders so far in terms of pandemic, in spite of having NIL business. There are a lot of issues related to pandemic. IATO has approached the govt. on various aspects and taken adequate measures to bring relief to its members. I am confident that as always, IATO will succeed in bringing out an amicable solution for its members soon.
All India tourism and hospitality industry requirements are majorly the financial relief expectations from government and secondly conducive earning environment in totality for tourism industry. It is the need of the hour that tour operators start getting business. Same is the requirement of hotels though many have started getting good occupancy. Earlier it was about pitching our concerns with government and giving courtesy calls to clients of their general well-being, but now we have started sales calls and visits which has led businesses towards a recovery path.
As the tour operators in the last couple of years found it difficult to sell packages due to 5 per cent GST levied on the total package cost that made it difficult for the tour operators to compete, as clients also approach hotels directly and the tour operators are left out, we have been appealing to the Finance Ministry to remove this 5 per cent. We hope that GoI will resolve this issue soon. The Tour Operators at their local and national association level have been insisting for the State Govt to recommend Finance Ministry to remove this 5 per cent GST.
Retaining staff and managing offices with whatever domestic business we are doing is another issue. Following COVID protocols for few states is a cumbersome process. This has led to illegal practice at state borders. We are working with major chain of hotels to offer better deals than OTAs and are trying for uniform transport rates. We worked with the state and got ` 3,000 each to all tourist taxi drivers and ` 5,000 to government approved tourist guides. We were successful in getting our sector listed in priority list for vaccination offront line workers.
When the pandemic hit us, IATO tried its best to support its members. The association is very focussed on all policies related to infrastructure development for the promotion of tourism. We also achieved remarkable milestones for members, one is the recognition of the tourism industry and its service providers the West Bengal state government. This is an online procedure and extends many benefits including marketing support to those recognised. We were also instrumental in imprementing the tourist guide policy for the state.
One issue facing the members of IATO and the tourism trade in the islands include insufficient connectivity and exprnotant airfares. This has made many tourism businesses, shut down. Representations have been made to the govt. to extend relief to the trade to help them get back on its feet. To tap revenge tourism, efforts are made to increase marketing and promote the islands as a safe destination with 100 per cent vaccination. We are also trying to establish international connectivity with the SEA countries.