Tourism is a key driver of happiness for the people of the country and can be a significant source of foreign exchange as India has captured the imagination of the globe with our vibrant culture, ethos and diversity.
Some suggestions for the government head of Budget:
1. Streamline taxation for the hotel industry: Every Indian is shocked when he looks at his hotel bill and sees the multitude of compounded taxes that are levied on accommodation as well as F&B when you stay at a hotel. This has to be simplified and reduced.
2. Allocate a significant amount to subsidise 5-6 tourism linked airports by giving them special status- Key states such as Goa, Kerala, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand come to mind here. The government should both allocate significant amounts to upgrade these airports and provide a subsidy to airlines flying to these airports.
3. Allocate Budget to key driving routes from the major origin cities of Mumbai, Bangalore and Delhi: As we all know, these mega cities have populations of over 10 million people and weekend getaways have become increasingly popular. However, the poor quality of roads have been a bottleneck. As such, the government should identify certain key highways and de bottleneck them by conversion of such roads to eight lanes and also allocate an amount for creation of new routes by tunnels that will make accessing such weekend destinations easier.
4. Key reforms in real estate: A significant cost of the hospitality industry is real estate and in this sector the government needs to bring in key reforms that will bring down the cost of capital for hospitality projects - two notable ones would be the setting up of digital ownership records up to individual units (apartments or hotel units) with support for fractional ownership of units and the setting up of a zoning database where any investor can check the classification of a particular plot of land so as to make an informed decision before investing into the hospitality sector.
5. Couchsurfing: The government might be aware of the strides being made by the sharing economy across the globe. For individual home owners who want to host travelers within private residences, the cost of compliance is significant. This sector can get a major boost if the government allows all owners wanting to host travelers to apply for an automatic license online and to maintain a digital log of all their guests instead of having to maintain a physical register and liaison with the police and other authorities locally. This online log can then be referred to in case of any untoward incidents.
( Author Roshan D'Silva is Founder & MD, Tripvillas. Views expressed are personal and not that of CNN-IBN and IBNLive)
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