By Harjinder Singh
Director, 24x7travels.com
A good number of travel & tourism related reports have revealed that in Thailand an estimated 70% of money spent by tourists ended up leaving Thailand (via foreign-owned tour operators, airlines, hotels, imported drinks and food, etc.).The Incredible India Tourism should take lead from such reports and ensure pro-locals tourism policies for better outcome in this segment.
Today, tourism products in India are sold like commodities rather than experiential tourism. The government polices are tilted towards venture capitalists and big technology players in tourism business segment. Most of these companies are doing predatory pricing by subverting laws, working on valuation and number games, which is completely against the fair business practices and does not serve the purpose the India Tourism.
Companies running on foreign or public funding have created price war, this resulted that tourism is being sold like commodity; it’s trading of tourism products rather than ensuring well crafted holidays involving locals people and pro-poor tourism.
In the globalization era technology is biggest blessing if used wisely, else it can destroy age old priceless traditions & human values, while India aiming 20 million tourists arrivals in a year, Indian govt need to walk the talk to do so, no policy will help India to achieve its goal if govt don’t take small & medium stakeholders on board and ensure easy of tax compliance or tax holiday for small, medium local operators as they will be generating employment and foreign revenue.
Let’s take an example, in Malaysia a tourist vehicle enjoys subsidies and pay less toll tax than private vehicles as it brings tourist to the country, which means additional revenue for the state and locals. Whereas it’s the other way round for Indian tourist vehicle operators.
Indian hospitality sector is slapped with world’s highest GST slab, which becomes more threatening as these hotels/resorts etc., aren’t allowed to pass on input credit, while doing interstate transactions, such complexity will kill the tourism in India, specially the foreign arrivals and the goal of 20 million will be just dream never worked on.
