Tour operators say sops fall short of expectations
The Centre on Monday announced free visas for 500,000 tourists and a loan guarantee scheme to support recognised tour operators and tourist guides whose business has been disrupted due to the pandemic. Free visas will be issued once the government reopens borders for leisure tourists, and working capital or personal loans will be provided to travel firms and registered tourist guides to discharge liabilities and restart their business.
The scheme will benefit 11,000 stakeholders, including 904 tour operators and 10,700 tourist guides, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said. Loans of ~10 lakh and ~1 lakh with a 100 per cent guarantee will be provided to travel firms and guides, respectively. In 2019 over 10.9 million foreign tourists visited India and contributed over $30 billion in foreign exchange earnings.
Sitharaman said once visa issuance started, the first 500,000 tourist visas would be issued free of charge. The scheme will be applicable till March 31 and will reduce government income by around ~100 crore.
The government relaxed entry norms allowing business visitors and overseas citizens of India to travel to India last year itself. Entry for foreign tourists is still barred.
While the tourism ministry is in constant dialogue with the health ministry, a decision on the date of opening is not clear.
This will depend upon factors such as the pace of vaccination, reduction in active Covid-19 cases, and a reduced threat from new variants such as the Delta plus.
“We feel the grant of free visas will be a big game changer for Indian tourism. Several tourists from our key markets in West Europe and the US had postponed their travel to India last year and we hope they plan trips once we open our borders for them,” said the tourism ministry’s additional director general, Rupinder Brar. Trade bodies welcomed the move but members said it fell short of their expectations. The industry was hoping for grants and waivers from statutory obligations.
“The waiver of fee for 500,000 tourist visas sends a positive signal but should be extended till 2023-24 or at least till the pre-pandemic tourist business is restored. The extent of support to tourism service providers should be increased and made proportionate to their business sizes and since they are being administered through the tourism ministry they should be reclassified as pandemic relief grants and not as loans to enable working capital support for salaries and operations,” said Ashish Gupta, chief executive office of the Federation of Associations in Indian Tourism and Hospitality.
“We are on oxygen now and a grant would prevent us from being put on the ventilator,” said Indian Association of Tour Operators President Rajiv Mehra.
Hotel Association of India Secretary General M P Bezbaruah said the industry hoped measures would follow to make it recover and get ready to welcome tourists.