UNION BUDGET 21-22

A big dampener for the travel and tourism industry

The Government has been severely disappointing the travel and tourism fraternity in terms of support ever since COVID crippled the industry and the Union Budget seemed to be a ray of hope which has now been somewhat shattered.

After being left out of the special economic and comprehensive package, the travel, tourism and hospitality sector were hoping that the government may consider the sector during the Budget 2021-2022.

Also, just a week before the budget, stakeholders and associations in the industry were banking that the Finance Ministry will come out with feasible plans to enhance and boost travel and tourism by ensuring adequate support in ease of doing business. Some associations also had sent suggestions for support and good governance before the budget.

Union Budget 21-22 has proven otherwise, with the budgetary allocation for the ministry of tourism slashed from Rs 2,500 crore in 202021 to Rs 2026.77 crore this year, which is a blow to the tourism industry which is reeling from huge losses due to the coronavirus crisis. The industry was clearly anticipating and expecting more than this.

With the coronavirus crisis bringing the tourism sector to its knees, the union budget has allocated Rs 1088.03 crore for the development of tourism infrastructure and has allocated a sum of Rs 63.65 crore for capacity building for service providers and Rs 138.65 crore for training and skill development.

With the coronavirus crisis restricting not just foreign tourist footfalls into the country but also keeping domestic tourists at bay, the budget has focused on pushing funds for promotion and publicity to help woo tourists back. Out of the Rs 668.72 crore allocated towards promotion and publicity, Rs 524.02 crore is for the overseas market and Rs 144.70 crore has been kept for domestic tourists.

The industry was expecting the government would have understood and studied the efforts of other countries that have put in to ensure their tourism sector survives these tough times. But that has not happened in India and has majorly left the sector disappointed.

Some of the industry views are: