Highlights of Union Budget 2021 – 2022 : Tourism Sector IGNORED, yet again
- New Economic Corridors have been planned to boost road infrastructure
- Disinvestment process for Air India, Shipping Corp and others will be completed in 2021-22
- The next lot of airports will also be monetised for operations and management in tier 2 and 3 cities
- An investment of INR 2,000 Crore has been made for Seven Port Projects in India
- Railways has been allocated a record INR 110,055 Crore, of which INR 107,100 Crore is for capital expenditure in 2021-22
- Kerala Highways has received a sanction of INR 65,000 Crore
- Highway Projects in Tamil Nadu have got over 1 lakh Crore
- Road projects in Bengal have been given a sanction of INR 25,000 Crore
Lack of immediate direct support in Budget disappoints Indian Tourism, Travel and Hospitality Industry. The travel and hospitality industry was looking at support for immediate and short term measures for critical revival, which sadly has not happened in the budget announcements.
- Nakul Anand, Chairman, FAITH and Executive Director, ITC Limited
We are totally disappointed by the Budget. A sector that lost 30 million jobs had no mention in the Budget. It is a great opportunity lost by the Government to revive Tourism, which is the largest employment generator in the country.
- Subhash Goyal, Honorary General Secretary, FAITH
We expected much more than what was announced. However, we believe the Budget 2021 has focused more on spendings to enable economic growth through infrastructure roads and financial remedies. However, it is inappropriate on the part of the Finance Minister to completely ignore Travel, Tourism and Hospitality sectors.
- Jyoti Mayal, President, TAAI and Vice Chairperson, FAITH
This is a Negative Budget for the Tourism industry. No allocation or sanctions were made for growth of MICE in India, which is a very integral branch of tourism.
- Amaresh Tiwari, Vice Chairman, ICPB
For an industry that has been most devastated during the pandemic, this Budget was an opportunity for the government to give some moral support and hope for future. Tourism has been ignored in past many Budgets and this is no exception.
- Rajeev Kohli, Jt. Managing Director, Creative Travel
An extremely disappointing Budget for the Tourism sector. On the whole there has been numerous investments in various sectors and pumping of money in infrastructure but the fact that tourism was completely ignore is extremely disheartening.
- Riaz Munshi, President, OTOAI and Managing Director, N. Chirag
Since the thrust of MoT is on Domestic Travel, we had great expectations from the Budget especially in terms of Income Tax exemption on travelling within India and incentivising people for domestic travel. None of this happened and we are immensely disappointed with no immediate relief offered to Tourism.”
- P.P. Khanna, President, ADTOI
This is an extremely disappointing Budget wherein the tourism sector has been completely ignored. We were one of the worst hit sectors during the pandemic and had great expectations from this budget, which were brutally crushed.
- Vineet Gopal, Jt. Secretary, OTOAI
The Union Budget 2021-22 that offered considerable scope to catalyse Domestic Tourism was noticeably silent on specific announcements towards the travel and tourism sector. A 19% reduction in the tourism budget from Rs. 2499.83 Crore to Rs. 2023.04 Crore is a strong concern for a sector that contributes 10% to the country’s GDP and is a critical source of employment for travel, tourism, hospitality and allied industries. Despite the downside, it must be noted that the Budget’s focus on infrastructure is of great value.
- Rajeev Kale, President and Country Head – Holidays, MICE, Visa, Thomas Cook (India) Ltd.
The government’s focus on driving infrastructure growth across the country through highway projects and railway networks should help to further boost domestic tourism. Emphasis on customer safety and providing a better travel experience to passengers is likely to also give additional confidence and reassurance to travellers, while a 300 crore special fund allocation for Goa marking diamond jubilee of its liberation might help to boost the hospitality industry in the state.
- Ritu Mehrotra, Regional Manager, South Asia at Booking.com
Against the challenging backdrop of the COVID era, the Union Budget 2021-22 is an expansionist budget: We welcome the much needed investments in healthcare, focus on capital expenditure, prioritisation of assets, privatisation and no change in taxation – structured around a clear pivot to inspire economic growth. While the six pillars of the Budget presented a diversified approach to fundamentals, across health, capital, infrastructure, inclusive development, human capital and innovation, focus on the Travel and Tourism sector has been noticeably absent.
- Madhavan Menon, Chairman & Managing Director, Thomas Cook (India) Ltd.
Union Budget 2021 focused on infrastructure, agriculture, healthcare, education and industrial sectors. While the Union Budget 2021 did not directly address several of the demands being made by the travel and tourism industry, it addressed a relatable need that acts as a medium for growth of the infrastructure sector. More economic corridors are being planned to boost road infrastructure with an allocation of 1.18 Lakh Crore. The government has set an ambitious target of building infrastructure in the country with special scheme to nudge states to spend more of their budget on infrastructure.
- Vishal Suri, Managing Director, SOTC Travel
