Dear PM, Do Address Tourism Industry’s Concerns
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address the nation tonight 8 PM on the Coronavirus pandemic. This is the second time in 5 days that the PM will be addressing the nation, whose large parts are under lockdown and curfew as parts of strengent measures to prevent the rapid spread of the Coronavirus pandemic, which has severely hit our social and economic life.
India’s travel and tourism industry has come to complete halt, with tourist spots, clubs, restaurants completely closed, hotel occupancy near zero, domestic airlines, international flights banned and visa cancelled or suspended. All these have led to a massive livelihood crisis in our tourism industry. The PM while addressing the nation on the health crisis must also must address the concerns and anxiety prevailing in our tourism sector, a big contributer to our economy. The industry badly needs a survival package, so that it could survive and then bounce back.
“There are millions of jobs at stake. With no end in sight of Corona pandemic, jobs are being lost due to closer of hotels across tier I, II, III and IV markets as well as in destinations across hill stations in J&K, Ladakh, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, West Bengal, Sikkim and all of North East. Hotel business in leisure destinations like Kerala, Goa, Rajasthan have come to a screeching halt and in the all the gateway cities properties are staring at virtually zero occupancy,” said SN Srivastava, President & Co-founder of Clarks Inn Group of Hotels.
He adds: “Hotelsand tourism industry desperately need the government to pledge immediate support to stave off the looming crisis in the sector with tens of millions of jobs at stake and the situation worsening probably faster than the epidemic itself.”
According to Srivastava, the industry needs some immediate relief to even survive skeletally, it needs immediate tax exemption, urgent GST relief by deferring GST payments by at least a year to help use the fund as working capital by the hotel companies and interest-free soft loans to sustain and survive and keep jobs. Srivastava says that the most employable industry is worst affected and government coming forward to resuscitate the industry will not only help in saving millions of jobs but will also play a vital role in keeping people indoors and maintaining social distancing.
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“THE MOST EMPLOYABLE industry is worst affected and government coming forward to resuscitate the industry will not only help in saving millions of jobs but will also play a vital role in keeping people indoors and maintaining social distancing.”
-SN Srivastava
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