NEW DELHI: The Indian Association of Tour operator (IATO) has asked the Treasury Department for relief battered tourism sector at the upcoming GST Council meeting by reducing tax rates.
“While no industry has escaped the effects of Covid 19, the tourism sector, especially the inbound sector, has been hit hardest, with more than a year of complete leaching and no immediate revival in sight. (Application) advice to consider rationalizing or lowering the GST for various tourism services as this will help strengthen the sector when the revitalization takes place, “IATO said in a statement.
According to the tourism industry, the GST in India is more than double that in neighboring countries. IATO has also requested that GST / IGST can be fully exempted for services provided outside India and in neighboring countries, even if the package includes an India tour.
“Due to the tax exemption, bookings are sent to Indian tour operators instead of tour operators based in neighboring countries. This will add significant foreign exchange to the country, ”it said.
IATO President Rajiv Mehra said, “Inbound tourism has been hardest hit and if we get this financial relief we can give ourselves some strength to get back on our feet. Ask the Home Office to start planning the opening of an e-tourist visa in stages as vaccination in many source markets such as the US, UK and other European markets are almost complete. This can be done incrementally and reciprocally so that the inbound tourism business can begin, which will not only revive economic activity but also bring back the loss of jobs over the past 14 months. ”

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