‘Make use of unutilised funds’
At a meeting of FAITH members, it was unanimously decided that there was an urgent need to approach the Ministry of Tourism to request an immediate relief for the industry that was running short of precious time awaiting a bailout package from Ministry of Finance.
The year 2020 may not witness revival of the tourism industry after it was struck by the COVID-19 outbreak.
Subhash Goyal, Secretary General, FAITH, says that 2020 should be declared a ‘tourism draught’ year because of this. “All the airlines would remain grounded and we know that all visas have been cancelled. Hence, our revenues have totally dried up. We had a meeting, through video conferencing, of board members of FAITH where it was unanimously decided to approach our parent ministry — Ministry of Tourism (MOT) — to make use of its unutilised funds for immediate relief to travel agents and tour operators, particularly the small and
medium ones. We do not have the money to pay salaries and other statutory obligations. Hence, it is very important that at least Rs1,500 crore from the old budget of the tourism ministry, and the new, be given as immediate relief. The TCS, which has been extended just as the moratorium for loans and interest, should be extended for at least one year and should thereafter be completely scrapped because it will kill outbound tourism from the country,” he asserted.
Goyal added that in case the government cannot give the industry ex-gratia grants, they should give a 10-year loan, which should be interestfree. “The interest portion of the loan should be paid by
MOT out of their funds, and it could be routed either through State Bank of India or through the respective banks of tour operators, maybe even through Tourism Finance Corporation. What is urgently needed is a bailout package,” he said, adding, “This is an SOS message on behalf of the tourism industry to the Minister of Tourism that we need oxygen for the industry to survive. We need some action now. We don’t have the patience or the bandwidth to wait for the bailout package from Ministry of Finance. We need funds urgently. We request the government to help the industry and save millions of jobs that are at stake. Rather than moratoriums, we need a financial relief immediately.”
We don’t have the bandwidth to wait for the bailout package from Ministry of Finance; we need funds urgently